Age- and Sex-Specific Reference Values for Renal Volume and Association with Risk Factors for Chronic Kidney Disease in a General Population-An MRI-Based Study

Thomas Dabers; Peter Sass; Fritz Fechner; Julian Weyer; Henry Völzke; Andreas Horst Mahnken; Roberto Lorbeer; Birger Mensel; Sylvia Stracke

doi:10.3390/jcm13030769

Age- and Sex-Specific Reference Values for Renal Volume and Association with Risk Factors for Chronic Kidney Disease in a General Population-An MRI-Based Study

J Clin Med. 2024 Jan 29;13(3):769. doi: 10.3390/jcm13030769.

Authors

Thomas Dabers^{1

2}, Peter Sass¹, Fritz Fechner¹, Julian Weyer¹, Henry Völzke³, Andreas Horst Mahnken⁴, Roberto Lorbeer⁵, Birger Mensel^{4

6}, Sylvia Stracke^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Nephrology, Internal Medicine A, University Medicine Greifswald, 17475 Greifswald, Germany.
² KfH Renal Center, 17475 Greifswald, Germany.
³ Institute for Community Medicine-SHIP Clinical-Epidemiological Research, University Medicine Greifswald, 17475 Greifswald, Germany.
⁴ Department of Diagnostic & Interventional Radiology, Philipps-University Marburg, 35037 Marburg, Germany.
⁵ Department of Radiology, University Hospital, LMU Munich, 80539 Munich, Germany.
⁶ Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology and Neuroradiology, Central Hospital Bad Berka, 99438 Bad Berka, Germany.

Abstract

Background: Renal volume (RV) is associated with renal function and with a variety of cardiovascular risk factors (CVRFs). We analysed RV using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in a large population-based study (Study of Health in Pomerania; SHIP-TREND) to find sex- and age-specific reference values for RV and to test the influence of several markers on RV. The main objective is to describe reference values for RV in people from the general population without kidney disease.

Methods: 1815 participants without kidney disease (930 women) aged 21-81 years were included in our study. Right and left RV with and without body surface area (BSA) indexation were compared among three age groups (22-39 years, 40-59 years, 60-81 years) by median and interquartile range and tested separately in women and men.

Results: The estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), serum uric acid, and right and left RV were higher in men compared to women (all p < 0.001). Left kidneys were larger than right kidneys (both sexes). With age, RV showed a continuously decreasing trend in women and an upside-down U-shaped relation in men. In multivariable linear regression models, current smoking (β = 14.96, 95% CI 12.12; 17.79), BSA (β = 97.66, 95% CI 90.4; 104.93), diastolic blood pressure (β = 0.17, 95% CI 0.01; 0.32), and eGFR (β = 0.57, 95% CI 0.50; 0.65) were positively associated with both left and right RV, whereas uric acid (β = -0.03, 95% CI -0.05; -0.01) showed an inverse association with RV. Interestingly, the same eGFR correlated with higher RV in men compared to women.

Conclusion: Reference values for RV are different for age groups and sex. For any given age, female kidneys are smaller than male kidneys. RV associates positively with eGFR, but for any chosen eGFR, renal volume in females is lower compared to males. RV decreases with age, but in men showed a U-shaped correlation. This may reflect hyperfiltration and glomerular hypertrophy associated with the presence of CVRF in middle-aged males.

Keywords: CKD; magnetic resonance imaging; population-based studies; renal volume.

Grants and funding

The Study of Health in Pomerania is part of the Community Medicine Research Network of the University of Medicine, Greifswald, which is supported by the German Federal State of Mecklenburg–West Pomerania.