Ultrasound assessment of normal splenic length and spleen-to-kidney ratio in children.

Splenic lengths in 184 normal Jordanian children were measured through the hilum by ultrasound and compared with data from Hong Kong and the United States of America. The spleen to left kidney ratio was calculated to determine whether it was constant and to establish a ratio above which splenomegaly can be diagnosed. Up to age 15 years, little variation in splenic length was observed, but over 15 years splenic length was slightly lower in Jordanian males. Spleen to left kidney ratio was constant at around 1; splenomegaly is highly probable in ratios > or = 1.25.