ABSTRACT
Background: Dilatation of portal vein is predictive of portal hypertension and therefore requires accuratestandards for normal measurements. Despite several studies to determine portal vein diameters, there existconsiderable variations across communities. Moreover, body builds have been found to correlate with differentdiseases.Purpose of study: We conducted a study among 200 normal participants belonging to Rajasthan in order toobtain data on sonographically measured diameters of portal vein and determine the association betweenportal vein diameters and age, sex, anthropometric measurements like height, weight, chest circumference,circumference at the transpyloric plane, circumference at the umbilicus and circumference at the hip.Results: We found that the mean portal vein diameter assessed ultrasonographically was 10.2 mm (SD 1.47 mm),with diameter ranging from 8.0 mm to 14.5 mm. Although, there was no statistically significant difference inportal vein diameter among the various age groups, a statistically significant difference was found betweenmales and females. Portal vein diameter showed a statistically significant, positive correlation, albeit poor withanthropometric measurements, viz. weight, chest circumference, circumference at transpyloric plane,circumference at umbilicus and circumference at hip. A strong positive correlation was found between portalvein diameter and height of the study subjects (r = 0.40). On linear regression analysis, this relationship wasfound to be statistically significant, with an increase in portal vein diameter of 0.06 mm for every increase of oneunit (1 cm) in height.Conclusion: The upper limit of normality of portal vein diameter was found to be 14.5 mm. Width of portal veinsdetermined by sonography is indirect indicator of portal pressure responsible for development of varices, andprompt further investigation