Sonographic assessment of normal spleen volume.

Thirty-two morphologically normal spleens from adult corpses were excised and immersed into a graduated water tank and the water volume displaced was considered as the actual spleen volume. After that, the splenic maximal height, width, and breadth were determined by a pachimeter. All the reference points were marked with a metal clip. Utilizing the metal clip references ultrasound maximal height, width, and breadth were determined. It was assumed that the ultrasound spleen volume was the result of the multiplication of the three ultrasonographic measurements previously obtained. There was no significant difference between pachimeter and ultrasound determinations. The mean actual spleen volume was 147.5 cm3 (SD = 81.46). The mean ultrasound spleen volume was 283.8 cm3 (SD = 168.27). A roughly linear correlation between actual spleen volume (y) and ultrasound spleen volume (x) was found, y = 14.23 + 0.469 x (R2 = 0.94, P < 0.01).