The Effect of Smoking, Gender, Age, and the Body Mass Index on the Measurements of the Portal Vein Diameter

• Published in: Journal of diagnostic medical sonography Vol. 40; no. 3; pp. 241 - 246
• Main Authors: Babiker, Mahmoud S., Alharbi, Yasser Awad, Alruwaythi, Amjad Abdullah, Alamri, Waleed Abbad
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01-05-2024
• Subjects: Sonography; portal vein enlargement; metabolic disease; and body mass index; smoking
• ISSN: 8756-4793; 1552-5430
• DOI: 10.1177/87564793231217708

Objective:
This study aimed to explore the effects of age, sex, body mass index (BMI), and smoking on the diameter of the portal vein (PV).
Materials and Methods:
This quantitative descriptive study included 113 participants (61.9% males and 38.1% females) who underwent sonography. The participants were selected via convenience sampling. Patients with known cardiac, liver, or biliary diseases were excluded. The PV of each participant was evaluated and measured using a 3.5 MHz transducer and a standard liver sonography imaging protocol. Statistical analyses were performed using descriptive statistics, chi-square test, independent t-test, and Pearson correlations. Statistical significance was set at P < .05.
Results:
The mean age of the participants was 38 ± 16 years (range = 15–86 years). The mean PV diameter and BMI were 9.6 ± 2 mm (range = 4.9–16 mm) and 26.22 ± 8.5 (range = 15.2–39.7), respectively. The mean PV diameter of the participants who did and did not smoke was 10.5 ± 2.3 mm and 9.25 ± 1.8 mm, respectively. The PV diameter showed statistically significant associations with smoking status, age, and BMI (P = .01, .007, and .022, respectively).
Conclusion:
The findings of this study suggest that the PV diameter may increase with smoking, age, and BMI; however, no correlation was observed between the PV diameter and sex.