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The length of the adult kidney is normally 10–12 cm, and the right kidney is often slightly longer than the left kidney. The adult kidney size is variable due to the correlation with body height and age; however, normograms for pediatric kidney size are available. [1]
Blood tests are also used to assess kidney function. These include tests that are intended to directly measure the function of the kidneys, as well as tests that assess the function of the kidneys by looking for evidence of problems associated with abnormal function. One of the measures of kidney function is the glomerular filtration rate (GFR).
[2] [3] They are located on the left and right in the retroperitoneal space, and in adult humans are about 12 centimetres (4 + 1 ⁄ 2 inches) in length. [4] [5] They receive blood from the paired renal arteries; blood exits into the paired renal veins. Each kidney is attached to a ureter, a tube that carries excreted urine to the bladder.
Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) is the volume of fluid filtered from the renal (kidney) glomerular capillaries into the Bowman's capsule per unit time. [4] Central to the physiologic maintenance of GFR is the differential basal tone of the afferent (input) and efferent (output) arterioles (see diagram).
This filtrate then flows along the length of the nephron, which is a tubular structure lined by a single layer of specialized cells and surrounded by capillaries. The major functions of these lining cells are the reabsorption of water and small molecules from the filtrate into the blood, and the secretion of wastes from the blood into the urine.
The first step in urine formation is the filtration of blood in the kidneys. In a healthy human, the kidney receives between 12 and 30% of cardiac output, but it averages about 20% or about 1.25 L/min. The basic structural and functional unit of the kidney is the nephron.
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Renal corpuscle showing glomerulus and glomerular capillaries Figure 2: (a) Diagram of the juxtaglomerular apparatus: it has specialized cells working as a unit which monitor the sodiujuxtaglomerular apparatus: it has three types of specm content of the fluid in the distal convoluted tubule (not labelled - it is the tubule on the left) and adjust the glomerular filtration rate and the rate of ...