A 64-slice CT angiographic study of morphologic and morphometric analysis of healthy kidney donors

Abstract

The kidneys are bilaterally paired organs and serve several essential functions required to maintain a normal human physiological function. The renal size was conventionally determined on x-ray or urography by measuring the renal length distance of first lumbar vertebrae to third or fourth lumbar vertebrae. Ectopic position of the kidney can be associated with ureteric stone, vesicoureteric reflux and can predispose to iatrogenic trauma during interventional radiological and laparoscopic procedures and any surgeries. Therefore, it is important to know the variations between individuals in the level of kidney relative to the spinal column. The study aimed to analyse the morphometric and morphologic measurements of the kidney using CT angiogram in kidney donors. In this study, the length and breadth of kidney and different level of location of kidney in 100 renal donors were analysed. The study was conducted in specialised scan centres located in Chennai. Out of 100 kidney donors, 61% of them were male & 39% of them were female. The right kidney length was found to be 10.59 ± 1.14 cms, and left kidney length was found to be 10.72 ± 1.22 cms. This report will be useful for transplant surgeries, as  well as clinicians and radiologist who perform various techniques.