KIDNEY AND

ASSOCIATED
DISEASES

KIDNEY: NORMAL
STRUCTURE
Kidneys are a pair of bean shaped organs, each
weighing about 150gm in the adult male and about
135gm in the adult female.
Cut surface of the kidney shows 3 main structures:
peripheral cortex, inner medulla and innermost renal
pelvis.
RENAL CORTEX: It forms the outer rim of the kidney
and is about 1cm in thickness. It contains all the
glomeruli and about 85% of the nephron tubules.
RENAL MEDULLA: It is composed of 8-18 cone shaped
renal pyramids The base of a pyramid lies adjacent
to the outer cortex and the apex of each called renal
papilla contains the opening of each pyramid.
RENAL PELVIS: It is the funnel shaped collection area
of the urine for drainage into the ureter.

FUNCTIONS OF THE KIDNEY:

The primary function is to remove the nitrogenous
wastes from the body.
Formation of urine.
Regulation of water volume.
Maintains the salt water balance.
Regulates the blood pressure.
Regulates pH balance.
Production of hormones.
Processing of vitamin D.

KIDNEY DISEASES
FROM POINT OF VIEW OF DISEASES OF THE
KIDNEY 4 COMPONENTS OF THE RENAL PARENCHYMA
ARE IMPORTANT:
Renal vasculature
Glomeruli
Tubules

 Interstitium
Traditionally diseases of the kidney initially evolve
from the predominant involvement of one of these
morphologic components.
Accordingly major groups of renal diseases are as
under:
Glomerular diseases
Tubular diseases
Interstitial diseases
Vascular diseases
Regardless of cause, renal disease usually results in
the evolution of one of the two major pathological
syndromes: Acute renal failure and Chronic renal
failure.

GLOMERULAR DISEASES:
Glomerulonephritis or Brights disease is the term
used for diseases that primarily involve the renal
glomeruli.
Glomerular diseases are classified into 2 main
groups:
Primary glomerulonephritis in which glomeruli
are the predominant site of involvement.
Secondary glomerular diseases include systemic
and hereditary diseases which secondarily affect
the glomeruli.

The clinical presentation of glomerular diseases has

in
general
4
features:
Proteinuria,
Hematuria,
Hypertension and disturbed excretory functions.
Six major glomerular
glomerular diseases:

syndromes

are

seen

Nephritic and Nephrotic syndrome

Acute and Chronic renal failure
Asymptomatic proteinuria and hematuria

Specific glomerular diseases

in

TUBULAR AND TUBULOINTERSTITIAL

DISEASES
It is difficult to separate the involvement of tubules and
interstitium since most forms of tubular diseases also
involve the interstitium. This group is discussed under 2
headings:
Primary tubular diseases includes acute tubular
necrosis
Tubulointerstitial diseases includes both acute and
chronic pyelonephritis

RENAL VASCULAR DISEASES

These diseases are as under:

Hypertensive vascular disease

Thrombotic microangiopathy
Renal cortical necrosis
Renal infarcts

CONCLUSCION
Kidneys play a vital role in our body and are very
essential for normal body functioning. It is therefore of
utmost importance to protect them. What can you do for
your kidneys?

Keep fit and active

Control of your blood sugar level
Monitor your blood pressure
Eat healthy and keep your weight in check
Maintain a healthy fluid intake
Do not smoke
Do not take over-the-counter pills on a regular basis
Get your kidney function checked

REFERENCES
TEXTBOOK OF PATHOLOGY
WWW.PATHGUY.COM
WWW.WORLDKIDNEYDAY.ORG