Comparing Abdominal and Retroperitoneal Organ Sonographic Measurements to Postdissection Measurements: A Pilot Study

Objective: Variation in organ size can occur due to different sonographic scan planes used to make measurements. Diagnostic accuracy may be compromised due to the variations in organ measurement. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare sonographic measurements and actual organ measurements, taken predissection and postdissection, to determine the accuracy of sonographic measurements, taken in various sonographic scan planes. Materials and Methods: Sonographic organ measurements were made of the liver, kidney, and spleen, prior to cadaver dissection. Liver length measurements were acquired in the midclavicular and intercostal sonographic scan planes. All kidney length, height, and width measurements were acquired scanning from the anterior and coronal planes. Spleen measurements were acquired using an intercostal sonographic scan plane, using longest dimension for length, and acquiring transverse measurements from both a 90-degree and a 180-degree transducer rotation. Descriptive statistics were reported using mean, standard deviation, median, and interquartile range. Results: Liver length, spleen length, right kidney length and width, and left kidney width showed no measurement differences. Sonographic measurements of right kidney height varied ( p < .0001). The sonographic left kidney length was more accurate when acquired in the coronal plane ( p = .006), and the height measurement was more accurate taken from the anterior plane ( p < .001). Spleen width varied between the 90-degree and 180-degree transducer rotation, and postdissection measures ( p = .0010). Conclusion: This pilot study would suggest that there is a need for the development of standardized sonographic organ measurement protocols.