Real-time ultrasonography of the pancreas in normal Chinese children in Taiwan.

The real-time ultrasound images of the pancreas in 142 children without clinical or laboratory evidence of pancreatic disease prospectively were analyzed to determine normal pancreatic size in Chinese children in Taiwan. Sonographic examinations of the pancreas were performed by sagittal scanning at the epigastrium; the long axis and short axis of the oval cross-sections of both the pancreatic head and body were measured. The relationships between pancreatic dimensions and body height, body weight, surface area and age were evaluated with linear regression analysis. Correlations with body height and age were better than those obtained with body surface area and body weight. Since all the physical parameters had better correlations with the long, rather than the short, axis of the pancreas, this indicated that the growth of the pancreas in children is primarily in the craniocaudal direction rather than the anteroposterior direction.