BACKGROUND: The length of kidney plays important role in diagnosing chronic kidney diseases. Kidney length can be measured by ultrasound, a cheap, convenient and noninvasive method. There is no report on the length of kidney in healthy Thai people. OBJECTIVE: To measure the length of normal kidneys in Thai adults volunteers by ultrasonography. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Healthy volunteers were recruited and the study was performed from April 2008 to June 2009. All volunteers were examined by the same standard ultrasound machine and the same radiologist throughout the study period. RESULTS: A total of 509 healthy volunteers were enrolled. The average lengths of left and right kidney were 10.24 +/- 0.70 and 10.09 +/- 0.68 cm, respectively. Male kidney was bigger than the female kidney. Kidney length slightly increased until the age of 50 and become smaller at the age of 60 or more. Kidney length showed no correlation with age, body weight, body mass index and body surface area. CONCLUSION: The average lengths of left and right kidney were 10.24 +/- 0.70 and 10.09 +/- 0.68 cm, respectively. The length below 9.00 cm may indicate the state of kidney diseases.
BACKGROUND: The length of kidney plays important role in diagnosing chronic kidney diseases. Kidney length can be measured by ultrasound, a cheap, convenient and noninvasive method. There is no report on the length of kidney in healthy Thai people. OBJECTIVE: To measure the length of normal kidneys in Thai adults volunteers by ultrasonography. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Healthy volunteers were recruited and the study was performed from April 2008 to June 2009. All volunteers were examined by the same standard ultrasound machine and the same radiologist throughout the study period. RESULTS: A total of 509 healthy volunteers were enrolled. The average lengths of left and right kidney were 10.24 +/- 0.70 and 10.09 +/- 0.68 cm, respectively. Male kidney was bigger than the female kidney. Kidney length slightly increased until the age of 50 and become smaller at the age of 60 or more. Kidney length showed no correlation with age, body weight, body mass index and body surface area. CONCLUSION: The average lengths of left and right kidney were 10.24 +/- 0.70 and 10.09 +/- 0.68 cm, respectively. The length below 9.00 cm may indicate the state of kidney diseases.