Chapter 26: Urinary System Flashcards
Azotemia
The condition characterized by excessive urea or other nitrogen-containing compounds in the blood.
Cystocele
Condition that occurs when the supportive tissue between a woman’s bladder and vaginal wall weakens, stretches, and allows the bladder to bulge into the vagina.
Cystoscopy
Diagnostic procedure using an optical instrument called a cystoscope that is inserted through the urethra to visually examine the bladder and lower urinary tract, to collect urine samples, or to view the prostate.
Enuresis
Involuntary urination, especially that of a child while asleep.
Nephroptosis
Condition in which the kidney is displaced downward form its usual and normal position; also called a floating kidney.
Nephrotic Syndrome
A kidney disorder that causes one to excrete excessive protein in the urine.
Nephrotoxin
A toxin that has a specific harmful effect on the kidney.
Polysystic Kidney Disease
An inherited abnormality that affects the development and structure of kidney tubules.
Shock-wave Lithotripsy
A noninvasive technique used to pulverize kidney stones by passing high-pressure shock waves through a water-filled tub in which a patient sits.
Urologist
Physician who specializes in functions and disorders of the urinary system.
Afferent Arterioles
An arteriole that carries blood to a glomerulus of the kidney.
Countercurrent Exchange
The transfer of heat, water, or solutes between two fluids that travel in opposite directions.
Countercurrent Multiplacation
Active transport between two limbs of a loop that contain a fluid moving in one direction in which the effect of the transport increases; responsible for the concentration of urine in the kidney tubules.
Creatinine
A breakdown product of creatine metabolism.
Detrusor
Collectively, the three layers of smooth muscle in the wall of the urinary bladder.
Distal Convoluted Tubule (DCT)
The segment of the nephron closest to the connecting tubules and collecting duct; an important site of active secretion.
Efferent Arteriole
An arteriole carrying blood away from a glomerulus of the kidney.
Filtration
The movement of a fluid across a membrane whose pores restrict the passage of solutes on the basis of size.
Glomerular Filtration Rate (GFR)
The rate of filtrate formation at the glomerulus.
Glomerulus
A knot of capillaries the projects into the enlarged, proximal end of a nephron; the site of filtration, the first step in the production of urine.
Hilum
A localized region where blood vessels, lymphatic vessels, nerves, and/or other anatomical structures are attached to an organ.
Juxtaglomerular Cells
Modified smooth muscle cells between the walls of the distal convoluted tubule and the afferent and efferent arterioles adjacent to the glomerulus and the macula densa.
Juxtaglomerular Complex (JGC)
The macula densa, extraglomerular mesangial cells, and the juxtaglomerular cells; a complex responsible for the release of renin and erythropoietin.
Kidneys
A component of the urinary system; an organ functioning in the regulation of blood composition, including the excretion of wastes and the maintenance of normal fluid and electrolyte balances.