The Urinary & Reproductive Systems Flashcards
Describe the location of the kidneys.
The two kidneys lie retroperitonially (behind the peritoneum) on the posterior body wall.
There is one on each side of the vertebral column at the level of T12 to L3 vertebrae.
Which ribs partially protect the kidneys?
Ribs 11-12.
Describe the colour, shape and size of the kidneys.
The kidneys are red brown, and oval in shape.
Roughly 10 cm long, 5 cm wide and 2.5 cm thick.
The kidneys are related superiorly to the ___1___ which also acts to separate them from the ___2___ cavities and 12th ribs.
- Diaphragm
2. Pleural
Describe the functions of the kidneys.
- The kidneys filter the blood, removing waste products and producing urine.
- They also play a major role in controlling water volume and ion concentrations and in maintaining the acid/base balance of the blood.
The outer layer of tissue in the kidney is the ___1___.
The inner layer of tissue in the kidney is the ___2___.
Urine leaves the kidney through the ___3___.
At the point where the ___3___ meets the kidney a funnel called the ____ 4 ____ Is formed.
- Cortex
- Medulla
- Ureter
- Renal pelvis
___1___ in the cortex and medulla filter waste products from the blood, forming ___2___.
The pyramids of the cortex drain this into the minor ___3___.
2-3 minor ___3___ drain into each of the 2-3 major ___3___.
The major ___3___ drain into the renal pelvis, which empties through the ureters into the ___4___.
- Nephrons
- Urine
- Calyces
- Bladder
What is the right kidney related anteriorly to?
- Right suprarenal gland
- Liver
- Duodenum
- Ascending colon
What is the left kidney related anteriorly to?
- Left suprarenal gland
- Stomach
- Spleen
- Pancreas
- Jejunum
- Descending colon
What is the functional unit of the kidneys?
The nephron.
Blood entering the kidneys for filtration passes through knots of capillaries called what?
Glomeruli.
What are the glomeruli contained within?
Bowman’s capsule.
In the Bowman’s capsule almost all of the constituents of plasma are filtered out of the blood, with the notable exception of large molecular weight proteins >?
64kDa.
In the nephron what particular products are removed and what useful molecules are reabsorbed?
Removed - Water and waste
Reabsorbed - Glucose and ions
In which part of the nephron are glucose and ions reabsorbed?
The proximal convoluted tubule.
In which part of the nephron is water reabsorbed?
The loop of Henle.
What happens in the distal convoluted tubule of the nephron?
Any waste products that were not filtered out in the Bowman’s capsule are secreted into the lumen of the nephron.
Where in the kidney do the proximal and distal tubules sit?
The cortex.
Where in the kidneys does the loop of Henle pass through?
The medulla.
What happens in the collecting duct of the nephron?
Water and ions are reabsorbed into the blood.
Which part of the nephron determines the volume of urine produced?
It is reabsorption in the collecting duct that controls the volume of urine produced. The amount of water reabsorbed at the other sites remains constant.
Where is antidiuretic hormone (ADH) released from and what is its effect?
ADH is released from the posterior pituitary gland. ADH makes the collecting duct more water permeable allowing reabsorption of water.
What are the renal arteries and where do they arise from?
The renal arteries are two large branches of the abdominal aorta that arise just below the level of L1.
What do the renal arteries divide into and what do these feed?
Afferent arterioles which feed into the glomeruli.
Where do efferent arterioles of the kidney run?
Efferent arterioles run from the glomeruli and wrap around the nephron.
What are the efferent arterioles that wrap around the loop of Henle called?
The vasa recta.
What do the vasa recta drain into? Which empties into what?
The vasa recta drain into the renal veins which empty into the inferior vena cava.
What are the left and right ureters?
The left and right ureters are two muscular tubes that empty urine from their respective kidneys and carry it to the urinary bladder.
Describe the structure and function of the walls of the ureters.
Their walls consist of three layers of smooth muscle fibres that spiral around the tube and aid peristaltic contractions that force urine into the bladder.
The right and left ureters descend from the ___1___, behind the peritoneum, to enter the ___2___.
Their entrances to the bladder runs obliquely through the muscle of the bladder wall. When the bladder is full or contracting, these act as ___3___ and prevent ____ 4 ____ into the ureters.
- Kidneys
- Pelvis
- Valves
- Urinary reflux
What, simply, is the bladder?
A temporary reservoir for urine.
True or false? The bladder can vary in size, shape, relations and position according to its content and the state of neighbouring viscera.
True.
What is the minimum amount of urine the bladder can contain?
~50ml.
Describe the location of the bladder in adults.
Describe both empty and full states.
In adults the empty bladder sits in the lesser pelvis inferior to the peritoneum. When full, it extends superiorly in the extraperitoneal fat of the anterior body wall.
Describe the location of the bladder in children younger than six.
In infants and children younger than six the bladder sits in the abdomen, even when empty.
Name the 3 layers of smooth muscle in the wall of the bladder. What do they form?
Internal, middle and external smooth muscle layer. These form the detrusor muscle.
Describe the smooth muscle alignment of the bladder wall.
The fibres of the internal and external layers are in a similar longitudinal directional alignment. The middle layer is aligned in a roughly circular direction.
Bladder musculature is a distorted continuation of the three layers of spiral smooth muscle that surround the what?
Ureters.
On the posterior wall of the bladder, between the ureteric ___1___, there is a smooth triangular area, the ___2___. This is in contrast to the ___3___ (ridges) that line the majority of the empty bladder, flattening out as the bladder fills.
- Orifices
- Trigone
- Rugae
The urinary system from the renal pelvis to the ___1___ is lined with a specialised epithelium, transitional epithelium or ___2___.
These cells have the ability to stretch, shift over one another and ___3___. The epithelium of a distended bladder may appear only two to three cells thick where as in an empty bladder it is usually five to ___4___ cells thick.
Non-distended ___2___ has a cuboidal basal layer, ___5___ celled middle layers and tall columnar cells in the surface layer.
- Urethra
- Urothelium
- Flatten
- Six
- Polygonal