Purpose: To use sonography to measure liver longitudinal length and determine liver longitudinal length percentiles among children in Warri, Delta State, Nigeria. Methods: Midclavicular liver longitudinal length was measured in a sample of 320 children 10 years and younger. Mean liver longitudinal length was calculated for boys and girls separately, boys and girls combined, and each age group. The liver longitudinal length was correlated with age, height, weight, body surface area (BSA), and body mass index (BMI). The 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th and 95th percentiles were calculated. Results: The mean liver longitudinal length for the boys and girls combined was 9.1 ± 0.6 cm. The relationship between liver longitudinal length and age, height, and weight was linear (r = 0.896,0.906 and 0.910, respectively). A negative correlation was observed between liver longitudinal length and BMI (r = -0.424), but the relationship between liver longitudinal length and BSA was positive (r = 0.929). The 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th and 95th percentiles of the liver measurements conformed to the typical growth pattern of the liver.
展开▼