Ultrasound‐based renal growth curves in Chinese children aged 0–14 years

ABSTRACT Importance Kidney dimensions are critical in pediatric urology for assessing and monitoring various conditions. Objective This study aimed to establish normative renal growth curves for Chinese children aged 0–14 years using ultrasound imaging and to examine the influence of age, height, and sex on kidney dimensions. Methods In this cross‐sectional study, we enrolled 6033 healthy children (aged 0–14 years) at our tertiary care center between June 2016 and July 2023. Standardized renal ultrasonography was performed by certified sonographers to obtain precise measurements of kidney length and width. We established comprehensive percentile‐based reference ranges (P3–P97) stratified by height. Regression analysis was used to evaluate developmental patterns, with particular attention to height‐related growth trajectories. Results The left kidney was consistently larger than the right in both length and width across all ages and sexes ( P < 0.01). Although kidney lengths were slightly greater in males than in females, this difference was not statistically significant. Kidney length showed strong positive correlations with both age ( P < 0.01) and height ( P < 0.01). Notably, the association with height was significantly stronger than that with age ( R 2 = 0.884 vs. R 2 = 0.353/0.709), particularly in children under 1 year of age. Interpretation This study provides comprehensive reference data for renal development in Chinese children aged 0–14 years, highlighting age‐related patterns and strong positive associations with height. Ultrasound proves to be a reliable and non‐invasive tool for monitoring renal growth and detecting abnormalities.