Renal blood flow Flashcards
What arteries supply the kidneys?
Right and left renal arteries supply their corresponding kidney
Where do the renal arteries arise from?
Abdominal aorta
between L1 and L2 vertebrae
Is the right renal artery or left renal artery longer? Why?
Right renal artery
because the abdominal aorta is slightly on the left side
Where does the right renal artery travel?
Behind the IVC
to the hilum of the right kidney
What branches can the renal arteries give off before the renal hilum?
Extrahilar segmental artery
What do the renal arteries do at the hilum of their kidney?
Divide into segmental arteries
How many segmental arteries do the renal arteries divide into at the hilum of the kidney?
Five
What are the five segmental arteries?
Superior segmental artery
Antero-superior segmental artery
Antero-inferior segmental artery
Inferior segmental artery
Posterior segmental artery
What do the segmental arteries supply?
Supply their corresponding segment of the kidney
What do the segmental arteries do in their corresponding segments?
Divide into interlobar arteries
Where do interlobar arteries travel?
Travel from the inner medulla to the outer medulla between the kidney lobes
What do interlobar arteries supply?
Renal lobes
What do interlobar arteries do at the outer medulla?
Divide into arcuate arteries
Where do arcuate arteries travel?
Travel on the outer border of the renal pyramid, between the medulla and cortex
What do arcuate arteries do at the outer border of the renal pyramid?
Give off interlobular arteries
Where do interlobular arteries travel?
Travel from the outer border of the renal pyramid towards the outer cortex
What is the venous drainage of the kidneys?
Mirrors arteries supplying kidneys
What drains into the left renal vein?
Left gonadal vein - ovarian or testicular
Left adrenal vein
What do the right and left renal veins drain into?
IVC
Is the right renal vein or the left renal vein longer? Why?
Left renal vein
because the IVC lies slightly to the right
Where does the left renal vein travel?
Travels through the angle between the superior mesenteric artery anteriorly and the abdominal aorta posteriorly
What does the interlobular artery do in the renal cortex?
Gives off afferent arterioles
Where do the afferent arterioles travel?
Towards Bowman’s capsule of nephron
What do the afferent arterioles do in Bowman’s capsule?
Give off glomerular capillaries
What do the glomeruluar capillaries do in Bowman’s capsule?
Form a tuft, called the glomerulus
What do the glomerular capillaries join together to form?
Efferent arteriole
What does the efferent arteriole do?
Gives off peritubular capillaries
Where do the peritubular capillaries travel?
Surround the tubules of the nephron
What do the pertubular capillaries join together to form?
Interlobular vein
What percentage of the cardiac output supplies the kidneys, on average?
22%
How does the blood supply of the kidneys compare to their metabolic demands?
The blood supply of the kidneys exceeds their metabolic demands
Why do the kidneys recieve such a large blood supply?
For glomerular filtration
What is the metabolic demand of the kidneys related to? What is the exact relationship between the two?
Reabsorption of sodium ions
Metabolic demand of kidneys is proportional to the reabsorption of sodium ions
What does the amount of sodium ion reabsorption depend on?
The amount of sodium ions filtered out, the GFR
What part of the kidney recieves the most blood supply?
Cortex
What is the blood supply of the renal medulla?
Vasa recta
What is meant by renal blood flow?
The volume of blood reaching the kidneys per unit time
What is the actual amount renal blood flow?
1.1 L/min
What is meant by renal plasma flow?
The volume of plasma reaching the kidneys per unit time
What is the actual amount of renal plasma flow?
605ml/min
What is the difference between the meanings of renal blood flow and renal plasma flow?
Renal blood flow includes all of the blood
Renal plasma flow includes only the plasma, not the haematocrit
