Morphometric assessment of the normal dimensions of the adult spleen in Saudi population

Objective: This study aimed to determine spleen dimensions in the adult Saudi population using computed tomography (CT) and to establish a reference range specific to this demographic. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at King Fahad Hospital of the University in Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia, involving 400 adult Saudi participants, equally distributed between males and females. Individuals over the age of 18 years, without pre-existing spleen-related conditions, were included. The study period spanned from November 2023 to April 2024. Spleen length, width, and thickness were measured using CT imaging. Results: The mean age of participants was 40.73 years for males and 43.55 years for females. For males, the mean spleen length was 99.4 mm, width was 100.2 mm, and thickness was 45.4 mm. For females, these measurements were 96.9, 98.3, and 44.6 mm, respectively. While spleen length showed the highest gender variation, no statistically significant difference was found between males and females across any parameters. Combined, the mean spleen dimensions were 98.24 mm in length, 99.33 mm in width, and 45.05 mm in thickness. Conclusion: This study provided standard spleen size values for the adult Saudi population using CT imaging. The data indicated that males generally had larger spleens than females, though the differences were not statistically significant. These findings established a baseline reference for evaluating spleen size for various medical conditions in Saudi patients.