MRI estimation of total renal volume demonstrates significant association with healthy donor weight.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to correlate total renal volume (TRV) calculations, obtained through the voxel-count method and ellipsoid formula with various physical characteristics.


METHODS
MRI reports and physical examination from 210 healthy kidney donors (420 kidneys), on whom renal volumes were obtained using the voxel-count method, were retrospectively reviewed. These values along with ones obtained through a more traditional method (ellipsoid formula) were correlated with subject height, body weight, body mass index (BMI), and age.


RESULTS
TRV correlated strongly with body weight (r=0.7) and to a lesser degree with height, age, or BMI (r=0.5, -0.2, 0.3, respectively). The left kidney volume was greater than the right, on average (p<0.001). The ellipsoid formula method over-estimated renal volume by 17% on average which was significant (p<0.001).


CONCLUSIONS
Body weight was the physical characteristic which demonstrated the strongest correlation with renal volume in healthy subjects. Given this finding, a formula was derived for estimating the TRV for a given patient based on the his or her weight: TRV = 2.96 x weight (kg) + 113+/-64.
Cohen
Emil I
EI
Mount Sinai Medical Center, Department of Radiology, Box 1234, 1 Gustave L Levy Place, New York, NY 10029, United States. Emil.Cohen@MSSM.edu
Kelly
Sarah A
SA
Edye
Michael
M
Mitty
Harold A
HA
Bromberg
Jonathan S
JS
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001835:Body Weight / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007668:Kidney / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009929:Organ Size / Q000502:physiology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D014019:Tissue Donors