What happens in the renal pyramids of the kidney?
The pyramids consist mainly of tubules that transport urine from the cortical, or outer, part of the kidney, where urine is produced, to the calyces, or cup-shaped cavities in which urine collects before it passes through the ureter to the bladder. The point of each pyramid, called the papilla, projects into a calyx.
What is increased echogenicity of renal pyramids?
Increased echogenicity of the renal cortex and medullary pyramids is well documented in children with sickle cell disease (30,62–65). In the cortex, the increased echogenicity is the result of glomerular hypertrophy and later glomerular and interstitial fibrosis (62).
What do the renal pyramids make up?
Renal pyramids are small structures that contain strings of nephrons and tubules. These tubules transport fluid into the kidney. This fluid then moves away from the nephrons toward the inner structures that collect and transport urine out of the kidney.
What drains the renal pyramid?
Urine is made by the nephrons and drains into tiny collecting ducts within the medullary pyramids. The collecting ducts merge at the base of the pyramids to form the renal papilla. From the papilla, urine drains into cuplike structures called the major and minor calyces.
What is the function of the medullary pyramid?
The medullary pyramids are two white matter formations in the medulla oblongata of the brainstem that carry motor fibres from the corticospinal and corticobulbar tracts, which are commonly understood as the pyramidal tracts.
In which part of the nephron does antidiuretic hormone reabsorb water?
collecting ducts
ADH acts upon the collecting ducts and distal convoluted tubules of nephrons to increase water reabsorption. It causes an increase in the number of aquaporins in order to allow for this.
Is echogenic kidneys normal?
Echogenic kidneys can be a normal variant but are also seen in association with renal dysplasia, chromosomal abnormality, adult and fetal polycystic disease, Pearlman syndrome, Beckwith–Wiedemann syndrome, and CMV infection. The incidence of echogenic kidneys has been estimated at 1.6 cases per 1000 sonograms.
What is echogenic medullary pyramids?
Echogenic renal medullary pyramids in this neonate may be the result of Tamm-Horsfall protein deposition from dehydration or from transient, physiologic hyperechogenicity of the renal pyramids in neonates. There is maximal hyperechogenicity at the apex with a decreasing gradient toward the base of the pyramid.
What are prominent renal pyramids?
Prominent pyramids were present in 50% of subjects with renal cortical echogenicity (RCE) equal to liver, but also in 21% of subjects with RCE less than liver. Our study expands the age at which prominently hypoechoic medullary pyramids can be considered a normal finding.
What structure drains the glomerulus quizlet?
Urine dripping from a renal pyramid passes first into the major calyx then into the minor calyx. The glomerulus is fed and drained by arterioles.
Why are renal pyramids striated?
The renal medulla consists of a series of renal pyramids, which appear striated because they contain straight tubular structures and blood vessels. The wide bases of the pyramids are adjacent to the cortex and the pointed ends, called renal papillae, are directed toward the center of the kidney.
What is the difference between the medulla and the renal pyramid?
The medulla is the inner region of the parenchyma of the kidney. The medulla consists of multiple pyramidal tissue masses, called the renal pyramids, which are triangle structures that contain a dense network of nephrons.