COMPARATIVE EVALUATION OF VISCERAL ORGAN MEASUREMENTS, IN REFERENCE TO BMI AND GENDER AMONG SIALKOT POPULATION

Abstract

Background: Excess body weight is a growing global epidemic closely linked to metabolic and structural alterations in abdominal visceral organs. In sonographic research, organ dimensions are crucial for evaluating physiological health. However, localized reference data comparing these dimensions within the Pakistani population remains limited, making it difficult to differentiate normal variation from early pathological enlargement. The main objective is to compare baseline sonographic sizes of the liver, spleen, and kidneys of normal-weight and overweight adults (18-40 years) in the Sialkot region to identify early morphological abnormalities associated with excess body mass, and to assess relationships with biological sex and BMI.

Methods: An observational cross-sectional analysis over three months in Sialkot enrolled 130 healthy participants (65 males, 65 females) aged 18–40 years through convenience sampling. A standardized transabdominal ultrasound measured longitudinal lengths of the liver, spleen, and bilateral kidneys. Height and weight were recorded to calculate and categorize BMI into normal (18.5–24.9 kg/m²) and overweight (25.0–29.9 kg/m²) groups.

Results: Overweight individuals exhibited significantly longer liver (mean difference 0.74 cm, p

< 0.001) and right kidney (mean difference 0.29 cm, p = 0.010) lengths than the normal-weight cohort. Spleen length showed a trend toward enlargement (mean difference 0.26 cm) approaching the statistical significance threshold (p = 0.064). BMI showed a significant positive correlation with liver (r = 0.39, p < 0.001) and right kidney lengths (r = 0.26, p = 0.003). Gender sub-analysis indicated males possessed significantly larger spleens and bilateral kidneys than females (p < 0.05).

Conclusion: This research establishes that subclinical organ visceromegaly, particularly in the liver and right kidney, begins in the overweight category before clinical obesity. Findings highlight the necessity of population-specific sonographic baselines and early preventive weight-management interventions to mitigate progressive visceral pathology.