الفهرس 
Anatomy of the spleenOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
The spleen is the largest accumulation of lymphoid tissue in the body. It has an important defense against antigens that reach the
blood circulation. The presence of splenomegaly is important in
diagnosis of many diseases, such as portal hypertension and
bilharzial diseases. Gross splenomegaly can be detected both
clinically and sonographically, however there is difficulty in the
diagnosis of mild splenomegaly clinically. Sonography is an
established and safe method for calculation of splenic length and
spleen to left kidney ratio as it may be a simple way to diagnose
mild splenomegaly. Also it can be obtained without exposing the
patient to hazards of ionizing radiation, so sonography is the most
likely one.
The aim of this study was the measurement of normal splenic
length in infants and children in Qalubia governate and correlation
with changes in age, sex, height, weight and body surface area. Also
the length of left kidney was recorded and the ratio between the
splenic length and the length of left kidney was determined to
diagnose mild splenomegaly.
This study included 100 normal infants and children from both
sexes. There ages ranged from 1 day to 17 years, divided into 6
groups. There were 50 males and 50 females. These cases were
Summary and Conclusions
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subjected for complete history, physical examination and laboratory
tests to exclude any renal disease. The splenic length, the transverse
diameter and the left kidney length were measured by using
ultrasound technique. Also the splenic to left kidney ratio was
calculated. During examination, the age, sex, height, weight and
body surface area were recorded.
The results of the present study showed that:
1- There was progressive increase in all body parameters with
age and the rate of growth of these body parameters was much
more during the 1st year of life and at the time of puberty.
2- The mean body parameters of female groups were more than
the mean body parameters of male groups but this differences
statistically was insignificant.
3- There was no significant difference for splenic length and
transverse diameter and left kidney length between males and
females in all age groups, except that above 15 years of age,
this sex difference for the splenic length was very highly
significant.
4- The mean splenic/kidney ratio of constant in all age groups
with the mean value of 1.02.
5- The splenic length was highly correlated with height of the
body with the ( r ) value was 0.94.
6- The transverse diameter of the spleen was correlated with
height of the body ( r ) was 0.74, but to a lesser extent than
that of splenic length with height .
7- The length of left kidney also was highly correlated with
height of the body ( r ) was 0.93.
Summary and Conclusions
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Conclusions
1- Sonography provides a simple way to assess the renal and
splenic growth without any risk of radiation.
2- The body height of the child rather than his age showed the
best correlation with renal length and splenic parameters.
3- A simple method to diagnose mild splenomegaly, is to use
spleen/kidney ratio that was found to be constant at any age
group.
4- The correlation of transverse diameter of the spleen with
height was less than the correlation of splenic length with
height. Thus during sonographic assessment of the splenic
parameters and their correlation with the body parameters, the
splenic length and the patient height are the most important determining factors.