Lecture 62 - Kidney and urinary system Flashcards
What is the role of the kidneys?
Produce urine.
What solid viscera do kidneys contact? What aspect?
Supramedial aspect contacts the adrenal glands.
What are the dimensions of a healthy kidney in a normal person?
10cm long; 5cm wide; 2.5cm thick
Are the kidneys intra- or retroperitoneal?
Retroperitoneal
What does the anterior surface of the kidneys contact? What does the posterior surface of the kidneys contact?
Anterior surface: peritoneum
Posterior surface: posterior abdominal wall
Describe the location of the kidneys relative to the posterior abdominal wall.
Below the diaphragm either side of the lumbar vertebral column, T12-L3, with the top of the kidneys sits anterior to the 12th rib.
Are the kidneys fixed in place? Why or why not?
No; they move with the diaphragm, ie during respiration.
Why is the left kidney slightly higher than the right kidney?
Because of the liver.
Where do the kidneys sit relative to the vertebrae?
Almost behind the lumbar vertebrae in the ‘paravertebral gutter.’
From which aspect is it easier for a surgeon to operate on the kidneys?
Posteriomedially; don’t have to go through as much viscera and just have to remove the 12th rib.
What type of viscera are kidneys?
Solid
What are the two ways that solid viscera may be organized? Give examples, one of which are the kidneys.
Lobes and lobules (eg, liver); or cortex and medulla (eg, kidneys)
Kidneys are made of a cluster of what type of cell?
Secretory cells.
What three structures encapsulate the kidneys. (From outside to inside)
Perirenal fat (which can be very thick), serous membrane (anteriorly), and the fibrous capsule.
In which direction does the hilum of each kidney face? Why?
Anteriomedially because the kidneys sit in the perivertebral gutter and therefore the IVC and the abdominal aorta sit anteriorly to the kidney.
From anterior to posterior, what three large structures does the hilum of the kidney transmit?
Renal vein, renal artery, ureteric/renal pelvis.
What five structures pass through the renal hilum?
Renal vein, renal artery, ureteric/renal pelvis, nerves and lymphatic vessels (nerves and lymphatics are not organized anterior to posterior and are very small.)
What three words describe the cortex of the kidney?
Outer, pale, continuous.
What three words describe the medulla of the kidney?
Inner, discontinuous, darker
How is the medulla of the kidney organized?
Arranged into a series of triangular collections of medullary cells, called renal (or medullary) pyramids.
What is the relationship between the cortex and the medulla?
The cortex completely surrounds the medulla.
Describe the shape and orientation of the renal medulla.
Pyramidal; base facing exteriorly toward the cortex, apex facing interiorly toward the renal pelvis.
The ureteric pelvis connects with what fat-filled space within the kidney?
The renal sinus.