Assessment of kidney size in newborns

Introduction: Ultrasonographic assessment of renal size in newborns is important for diagnosis of renal disease in neonatal period. It is well known that changes in renal dimensions may precede kidney echotexture changes in certain renal pathologies. The aim of this study is to conduct a systematic review to evaluate kidney dimensions in premature and full term newborns. Method: We search all English language studies and the articles related to kidney dimension in neonate and children in Google scholar, PubMed and Scopus website and selected those due to premature and term newborns. We identified 74 retrieved studies from electronic database. After studying the titles and abstracts we selected 10 included articles that were mach with aim of this study and reviewed articles full text. Result: The studies on kidney dimension of newborns had been reported among various populations. Some studies had been conducted regarding the comparison of renal diameters with body weight and length at first days of birth. Some others have compared the gestational age with renal size, but without any conclusive results. There were numerous studies about kidney size in childhood and fetal period but limited investigation in neonatal period. In this paper the kidney dimensions correlation with gestational age, length, weight, and body surface area was analyzed by reviewing the literature. Conclusion: although kidney volume is regarded as the most precise index of kidney size, kidney length is the easiest practically indicator of kidney dimensions that is correlated to anthropometric and gestational age of neonates.