Ultrasonographic study on the growth and dimensions of healthy children and adults organs.

We measured by ultrasound the spleen, the kidneys, the pancreas in 323 children (age 0-12), the thyroid in 60 children of same age range, and all these organs in 180 adults (in adults we measured additionally the testis, the gallbladder and the choledochus). Children and adults were all healthy, without evidence of pathologies potentially involving these organs. The children have been selected looking at clinical and hematological parameters, while the adults have been selected among a military population, that is the most significant sample of healthy young adults. We measured the length, the transversal diameter and the thickness of the spleen, kidneys, pancreas, testis and thyroid, the diameter of the choledochus and the maximum length of the gallbladder (pre and post stimulus). We found a good correlation between age and dimensions for pancreas, kidneys and spleen in children, representing the progressive growth of these organs. Our data represent an assessment of the normal dimensions of these organs in vivo by means of ultrasound, and therefore they are an useful tool to discriminate pathologically enlarged or reduced organs, both in children and in adults.