Spleen Size in Chhattisgarhi Adult Population with Relation to Age using Ultrasonography: A Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

Introduction: Spleen, a vital organ of reticuloendothelial system, which helps in degradation of old red blood cells and secretes properdin, tuftsin and immunoglobulin-G. Spleen known to show variation in shape and size with respect to age, sex, height, weight and ethnicity. Ultrasonography is a non magnetic radiation, easily performed and cost-effective diagnostic procedure which can be used for accurate measurement of spleen. Aim: To evaluate and correlate splenic dimensions by Ultrasonography (USG) in Chhattisgarh population with respect to age. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted over a period of one year, from August 2015 to July 2016 in the Departments of Anatomy and Radiodiagnosis at Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru Memorial (Pt. JNM) Medical College, Raipur, India. A total of 400 subjects were recruited for study, of which 239 were females and 161 were males. The subjects were selected amongst the adult patients, in the age groups of 25-60 years, who had come for abdominal USG. Spleen length, breadth and thickness of these were evaluated using USG. Descriptive analysis was carried out using Microsoft (MS) Excel version 2010 and Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23.0 was used to derive mean, standard and Pearson’s correlation coefficient (r). Statistical significance was considered at p-value <0.05. Results: A total of 400 subjects were studied with a mean age of 39.23±10.03 years. Spleen length, breadth and thickness in age groups 25-30 years were 95.34±8.73 mm, 49.42±9.19 mm and 34.93±4.62 mm, in age group 31-40 years was 92.25±7.13 mm, 45.95±7.86 mm and 33.9±3.88 mm, in age group 41-50 years was 90.7±7.69 mm, 45.01±7.31 mm and 33.5±3.99 mm and in 51- 60 years was 88.39±5.25 mm, 41.39±6.64 mm and 27.67±2.8 mm was noted in females. Whereas in males, in age group 25-30 years was 105.43±10.42 mm, 53.87±8.01 mm and 41.56±6.16 mm, in age group 31-40 years was 101.8±7.66 mm, 48.73±6.1 mm and 37.65±4.27 mm, in age group 41-50 years was 98.48±7.03 mm, 45.81±6.14 mm and 36.16±3.98 mm and in age group 51- 60 years was 94.38±7.09 mm, 42±5.94 mm and 34.3±4.46 mm, respectively was observed. Conclusion: Spleen length, breadth and thickness were observed to decrease in size with increase in age, of which spleen breadth in males showed a moderately significant negative correlation (r=-0.451) with age.