What's the normal liver measurement?

[susan400]

I just have a curiousity question.  I've been wondering if there is a normal liver measurement value.  For example:  Like normal parameters between 12.0 - 15.0 cm??  You know like they have with labwork?  Whenever I get my sono, the report has a liver measurement on it and I am just curious as to what's normal?  They tell me it's got inflammation, what I know that, but I'd like to know, if anybody does know, what's the normal measurement?

Susan400

[scantine]

i am 5ft.5 inch tall and my report reads that i hav a unremarckable size liver at 14.6 is this a bad thing there was no thickening?

[HectorSF]

While their are "average" sizes of livers amongst the population, there is no "normal" sized liver that is used as a factor in determining whether your liver is larger (hepatomegaly) or smaller than it "should" be.
Each person's liver has a "size" relative to their body weight. Livers are measured by volume. The liver's volume is related to a person's body weight, this is typically between 2 and about 2.7% in normal healthy subjects. When your liver is inflamed and enlarged the it is enlarged for you, based on your weight and by the space in your body that the liver normally occupies. (This is also true of an enlarge spleen in cirrhotic patients).

Besides using a sonogram or other imaging technology a gastroenterologist or hepatologist can estimate the extent of inflammation of your liver by feeling how far it extends below your rib cage and by the texture of the liver.

Like-wise as Susies2010 mentions, a cirrhotic liver is usually shrunken, hard and has a rough texture.

Cheers!
Hectorsf

[SusieS2010]

I'm not sure what the normal ranges are. However I do know that cirrhotic livers are usually shrinken and hard. So slightly enlarged is not a bad thing as far as cirrhosis goes.

[mikesimon]

I've seen 10 for women too Susan.

Mike

[susan400]

After I posted this, this morning, I did some surfing/Google, etc.  They have different 'normal' ranges for men from women, I found.  It appears from what I read that the upper limit of 'normal' ranges for women is 10.0.

I'm not worried about being cirrhotic because according to my docs I'm no where near close to that.  It was more of a curiousity type of thing.

My last ultrasound from 1/3/11 meaures my liver at 17.1 cm, says 'The liver is enlarged'.  

Everything else is normal except an atherosclerotic aorta.

Thanks for the answers...

Susan400

[mikesimon]

For what it's worth I found this:

The Size of the Liver

What is the size of the liver? The average width of this body part is around 21 centimeters to 22.5 centimeters. The vertical height of the organ is estimated to be 15 centimeters to 17.5 centimeters. From the front to back, the organ measures 10 centimeters to 12.5 centimeters. The average weight of this body part is between 1.4 kilograms to 1.6 kilograms. Learning the average and normal liver size is important to the detection of fatty infiltration.

http://www.dimensionsguide.com/liver-size/

[Bill1954]

Susan, I don’t have a reference range handy, but my U/S scan report from 2004 says, “the liver measures 15.7 cm in span; hepatomegaly is present”. I think it depends on which lobe is being measured and how it’s measured, etc; I’m not sure there’s a magic formula like that.

If you’re concerned about progression into cirrhosis, a better gauge might be the portal vein diameter, and to be sure the flow is correct? This might be more indicative of liver health…

Good luck,

Bill