Liver weight of adult Japanese, especially recent weight values.

Cases of 445 adult Japanese autopsies of the Tokyo Metropolitan Medical Examiner's Office were used in this study. They were either negative for all hepatitis virus-related markers examined or had little or no histopathological hepatic changes. The maximum liver weight was observed in the fifth decade in both sexes, and after the fifth decade the liver weight decreased markedly with increasing age. The sexual difference in the liver weight was most predominant in the third to fifth decades, but the sexual difference was not marked in the older age groups. The highest liver weight to body weight ratio was observed in the fifth decade of both sexes, and a total decadal pattern of the ratio was similar to a parabola. An interesting finding was that the male liver weights in the third to fifth decades considerably increased in recent years, but the female liver weights in the third decade were almost the same despite the difference in investigation period. We suggest the data of this study may be a standard for Japanese people.