IS BLOOD-PRESSURE RELATED TO KIDNEY SIZE AND SHAPE

Objective. To examine the relationship between blood pressure and the size and shape of the kidneys in healthy volunteers from the community . Design. A cross-sectional community-based study of normal volunteers in Portsmouth City, Hampshire, UK. Subjects. Subjects numbered 185 (9 9 female), aged 19-66 years. Results. Blood pressure was higher in men , and in those with higher body mass index. Both systolic and diastoli c blood pressure were correlated with the derived kidney volume. Howev er, when corrected for age, sex and BMI the relationship was not stati stically significant. Blood pressure correlated inversely with the wid th : length ratio of the left kidney. Conclusions. Blood pressure was not correlated with kidney size in this group of adults.