Gray-scale echography of the pancreas. Re-evaluation of normal size.

One hundred ultrasonograms of patients without pancreatic disease were reviewed. The head, neck, and body of the pancreas were measured in the longitudinal and transverse/oblique planes. The mean thickness of the pancreatic head was 2.01 +/- 0.39 cm (standard deviation) in the longitudinal plane and 2.08 +/- 0.40 cm in the transverse/oblique plane. The same respective measurements were 1.18 +/- 0.36 cm and 1.16 +/- 0.29 cm for the body and 1.00 +/- 0.30 cm and 0.95 +/- 0.26 cm for the neck. The anatomy and consistency of the normal and diseased pancreas are discussed.