ULTRASONIC DETERMINATION OF KIDNEY VOLUME IN THE DOG

Abstract

Canine kidney measurements were obtained in vivo using ultrasound before and after anesthesia and were compared with direct caliper measurements at laparotomy. Following excision, the kidney dimensions were also measured ultrasonically in a water bath and the results were used to calculate kidney ‐volume by a modified parallel planimetric method and three variations of a prolate ellipsoid method. The calculated volume was compared with actual kidney volume determined by volume displacement. All methods were found to underestimate actual volume so that a linear correction of ultrasonically calculated volume was required to predict actual volume. The modified parallel planimetric method and a prolate ellipsoid method using height and width determinations cranial and caudal to the renal pelvis were the best models. The prolate ellipsoid model was chosen for subsequent kidney volume calculations because of its simplicity. The noninvasive calculation of kidney volume using ultrasound was sufficiently accurate to be clinically useful, particularly when serially evaluating kidney size changes in the same dog.