Acquired and congenital kidney anomaly
By the degree of importance for the body, the kidneys can be placed on a par with the heart and lungs. But unlike them, many congenital anomalies of the kidneys may not last long enough either.
Short anatomy and physiology
Kidneys are paired organs located in the lumbar region at a distance from the spine on both sides. If more precisely - the kidneys are from 11 thoracic vertebrae to 2 lumbar vertebrae. Of course, all these are average indicators. But the differences between different people do not exceed 3-7 centimeters. Also in the normal is the lower location of the right kidney.
Anatomical characteristics of the kidneys are as follows:
- Shape - bean-shaped. The convex side is facing away from the spine. The slightly concave part is directed towards the vertebral column.
- Surface is smooth. It is caused by a dense connective tissue capsule.
- The color is closer to the dark brown. Sometimes it can be described as red-brown. This is due to the rich vascular network of the parenchyma of the kidneys.
- Dimensions do not exceed 12 cm in length, 5 cm in width and 3.5 cm in thickness. Thus, the organ has two surfaces and two edges. One surface of the kidney is facing the back, the other - to the front abdominal wall. They are called, respectively, the back and front surface.
The internal structure of the kidneys fully corresponds to their basic tasks. They contain more than 1 nephron for each. Therefore, such a congenital anomaly of the kidneys as underdevelopment of one of them is difficult to diagnose because of the ability of one for a long time to fully "work for two."
It is known that kidneys are based on nephrons. It is they who ensure the "cleansing" of 12,000 liters of blood per day. This means that the whole blood of the body more than 20 times a day. In this case, up to 150 liters of primary urine is formed, and no more than 2 liters of secondary urine is excreted from the body.
Defects in the structure of
This is important! Most malformations are formed at the stage of their intrauterine development. Since after reaching the body of a certain age, the kidneys no longer grow and develop. Therefore, the congenital anomaly of the kidneys occupies not less than 80% in the structure of all the deviations of their anatomy. Defects of the structure after formation are a rarity. Usually these are post-traumatic structural changes, or caused organ abnormalities of certain diseases. For example, cysts after urolithiasis.
The following abnormalities are the main malformations of the kidneys. They are divided into several groups:
- Disorders of vascular structures. This group includes:
- Additional renal artery. This is the most common congenital anomaly of the kidneys. Occurs in about 80-85% of all congenital malformations. Most cases of the additional artery are asymptomatic, so this does not violate the basic function of the organ. But sometimes there is a situation where an additional vessel squeezes the bowel-grouse department, which makes it difficult to move away from the urine. This can cause hydronephrosis - fluid accumulation.
- Abnormality of renal artery exit from the aorta. In this case, the vessels are separated from the abdominal aorta outside a typical place. This can occur in the pelvic or aortic branches of the iliac artery. These anomalies pose a risk for ptosis of the kidneys - their descent below the site of a typical location.
- Renal aneurysms. This developmental defect is one-sided expansion of the artery. This creates conditions for thrombosis, which in the middle and older age can cause a kidney infarction.
- Narrowing of the renal arteries. Almost always is an acquired pathology. One of its frequent causes is atherosclerosis.
- Structure anomalies:
- Kidney cysts. It is a hollow formation in the organ parenchyma. This abnormality of the kidneys in almost 65% of cases is acquired. The basis for the formation of cysts is the "turn off" part of the vessel or tubule from the "work" with the development of its isolation.
- Hypoplasia of the kidneys. Underdevelopment of the body, which makes it functionally not mature. Usually occurs unilateral hypoplasia. It often manifests itself in the form of development of arterial hypertension due to hypoplasia of the kidney.
- Disturbance of the number of organs:
- Additional kidney. Usually, there is a one-sided defect. Clinically, she does not manifest herself in any way, but she is at risk of developing chronic inflammatory diseases, since she is almost always a functionally immature organ.
- Doubling of the kidney. It is also a one-sided developmental malformation. It consists in increasing the size and doubling 1/3 of the organ. This variant of the defect often leads to chronic inflammatory diseases, hydronephrosis and urolithiasis due to impaired urine flow.
- No one kidney. The defect in most cases is detected by chance, since the compensatory capabilities of a single kidney allow long-term isolation. However, such people have a higher risk of developing various organ diseases. Again, this is associated with a double load on a single kidney.