Sonographic Evaluation of the Renal Volume in Normal Pregnancy at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital: A Pilot Study

Introduction: The renal system is affected by the changes that occur in pregnancy, with the renal volume being one of the most important changes that occur. The data on the renal volume changes in pregnancy in the west African sub region, including Nigeria, is apparently sparse. Objective: The purpose of this study was to sonographically establish the range of the renal volume in normal pregnant women in the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, Nigeria. Subjects and Methods: A prospective, descriptive, cross sectional study on the sonographic measurements of the renal volume was performed on 150 healthy, normal, pregnant women. The renal volume was calculated by using the ellipsoid method. The body mass index, gestational age and parity were obtained. The correlations between the variables were calculated. Results: The age distribution of the women ranged from 20-41, with a mean of 29.7 years and the parity ranged from 0-6. The gestational age ranged from 9-40 weeks, while the body mass index ranged from 19.5 to 54. A mean renal volume of 163.44cm3 +(SD) 51.3 and 141.85cm3 + 41.07 for the left and right kidneys respectively, was obtained, with a range of 100cm3 -214cm3 for both the kidneys. The mean renal volume was seen to increase with an increase in the gestational age and the body mass index. It was not so with the parity. The mean renal volume significantly correlated positively with the gestational age (r=0.29 and 0.11 (p