Department of Ultrasound, Medical Imaging, The Townsville Hospital, Douglas, Queensland, Australia.
Ultrasound Med Biol. 2013 Dec;39(12):2315-20. doi: 10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2013.07.001. Epub 2013 Sep 11.
Low birth weight (LBW, <2500 g) infants have a reduced number of glomeruli and nephrons and, therefore, smaller kidneys. The purpose of this pilot study was to determine whether renal parenchymal thickness might be a better indicator of renal growth. We carried out a pilot study over 12 mo to determine whether renal parenchymal thickness could be used to detect differences in renal growth between LBW and normal birth weight (NBW, 2500-4500 g) infants. Thirty-eight term infants (12 LBW and 26 NBW) underwent renal ultrasound. Parenchymal thickness, length, transverse diameter and antero-posterior diameter were measured. Mean renal parenchymal thickness was significantly lower in LBW infants than in NBW infants. Renal parenchymal thickness was closely correlated with an increase in renal volume (r = 0.76, p < 0.0001). Renal parenchymal thickness is a single measurement that could potentially be a more useful and accurate approach to monitoring renal growth in growth-restricted infants than renal volume.
低出生体重（LBW，<2500 克）婴儿的肾小球和肾单位数量减少，因此肾脏较小。本初步研究的目的是确定肾实质厚度是否可以作为衡量肾脏生长的更好指标。我们进行了为期 12 个月的初步研究，以确定肾实质厚度是否可以用于检测 LBW 和正常出生体重（NBW，2500-4500 克）婴儿之间的肾脏生长差异。38 名足月婴儿（12 名 LBW 和 26 名 NBW）接受了肾脏超声检查。测量了实质厚度、长度、横径和前后径。LBW 婴儿的平均肾实质厚度明显低于 NBW 婴儿。肾实质厚度与肾体积增加密切相关（r = 0.76，p < 0.0001）。肾实质厚度是一个单一的测量值，与肾体积相比，它可能是监测生长受限婴儿肾脏生长更有用和准确的方法。
