Sonographic measurements of normal gallbladder sizes in children.
OBJECTIVE
Our goal was to establish the range of sonographic measurements of normal gallbladders in children.


METHODS
Six hundred ten children aged 0-16 years (male:female ratio, 1.5:1) with normal clinical and laboratory findings were included in this study. The sonographic parameters were the length, width, and calculated volume of the gallbladder, and the clinical parameters were the age, height, weight, and body surface area of the children. Statistical significance was determined through correlation and regression analyses.


RESULTS
The length of the gallbladder showed significant positive correlations with age (r = 0.65), height (r = 0.67), weight (r = 0.63), and body surface area (r = 0.65; p < 0.01). The calculated volume of the gallbladder also showed moderate correlations with age (r = 0.53), height (r = 0.55), weight (r = 0.61), and body surface area (r = 0.57; p < 0.01). The gallbladder width showed modest but significant correlations with age (r = 0.48), height (r = 0.53), weight (r = 0.53), and body surface area (r = 0.55; p < 0.01). The highest correlation coefficients were found between the gallbladder length and subject age (r = 0.65; p < 0.01) and between the gallbladder length and subject height (r = 0.67; p < 0.01). For all correlations, statistical significance remained after regression analysis (p < 0.01).


CONCLUSIONS
Values for the size of the normal pediatric gallbladder are defined and will be helpful in the diagnosis of gallbladder abnormalities.
Yoo
Jeong-Hyun
JH
Department of Radiology, Dongdae-Mun Hospital, Ewha Womans University, 70 Chongro 6-ga, Chongro-gu, Seoul 110-126, South Korea.
Kwak
Hyun-Joo
HJ
Lee
Myung-Jun
MJ
Suh
Jeong-Soo
JS
Rhee
Chung-Sik
CS
D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D000886:Anthropometry; D002648:Child; D002669:Child Welfare; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005704:Gallbladder / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D005705:Gallbladder Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D012016:Reference Values; D014463:Ultrasonography