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The renal medulla (Latin: medulla renis 'marrow of the kidney') is the innermost part of the kidney. The renal medulla is split up into a number of sections, known as the renal pyramids. Blood enters into the kidney via the renal artery, which then splits up to form the segmental arteries which then branch to form interlobar arteries.
Blood tests may show impaired kidney function (elevated urea or creatinine) or electrolyte imbalances such as hyponatremia or hyperchloremic metabolic acidosis. Urinalysis may indicate an elevated pH due to the secondary destruction of nephrons within the affected kidney, which impairs acid excretion. Physical examination in a thin patient may ...
Before reaching the hilus of the kidney, each artery divides into four or five branches. The anterior branches (the upper, middle, lower and apical segmental arteries) lie between the renal vein and ureter, the vein being in front, the ureter behind. The posterior branches, which are fewer in number and include the posterior segmental artery ...
From anterior to posterior, the renal vein exits, the renal artery enters, and the renal pelvis exits the kidney. On the left hand side the hilum is located at the L1 vertebral level and the right kidney at level L1-2. The lower border of the kidneys is usually alongside L3.
The nephron is the functional unit of the kidney. [3] This means that each separate nephron is where the main work of the kidney is performed. A nephron is made of two parts: a renal corpuscle, which is the initial filtering component, and; a renal tubule that processes and carries away the filtered fluid. [4]: 1024
The collecting duct system is the final component of the kidney to influence the body's electrolyte and fluid balance. In humans, the system accounts for 4–5% of the kidney's reabsorption of sodium and 5% of the kidney's reabsorption of water. At times of extreme dehydration, over 24% of the filtered water may be reabsorbed in the collecting ...
[citation needed] A large "staghorn" kidney stone may block all or part of the renal pelvis. The size of the renal pelvis plays a major role in the grading of hydronephrosis . Normally, the anteroposterior diameter of the renal pelvis is less than 4 mm in fetuses up to 32 weeks of gestational age and 7 mm afterwards. [ 2 ]
The venous drainage of the kidney large mirrors its arterial supply, except that there are no segmental veins. [4] The stellate veins arise from the capillaries, then drain successively through interlobular veins and interlobar veins until these converge from across the kidney to form the renal vein for that kidney.