Kidney
Clinical significance
Diabetic nephropathy Glomerulonephritis Hydronephrosis is the enlargement of one or both of the kidneys caused by obstruction of the flow of urine. Interstitial nephritis Kidney stones (nephrolithiasis) are a relatively common and particularly painful disorder. A chronic condition can result in scars to the kidneys. The removal of kidney stones involves ultrasound treatment to break up the stones into smaller pieces, which are then passed through the urinary tract. One common symptom of kidney stones is a sharp to disabling pain in the middle and sides of the lower back or groin. Kidney tumour Wilms tumor Renal cell carcinoma Lupus nephritis Minimal change disease In nephrotic syndrome, the glomerulus has been damaged so that a large amount of protein in the blood enters the urine. Other frequent features of the nephrotic syndrome include swelling, low serum albumin, and high cholesterol. Pyelonephritis is infection of the kidneys and is frequently caused by complication of a urinary tract infection. Kidney failure Acute kidney failure Stage 5 Chronic Kidney Disease Renal artery stenosis Renovascular hypertension Generally, humans can live normally with just one kidney, as one has more functioning renal tissue than is needed to survive. Only when the amount of functioning kidney tissue is greatly diminished does one develop chronic kidney disease. Renal replacement therapy, in the form of dialysis or kidney transplantation, is indicated when the glomerular filtration rate has fallen very low or if the renal dysfunction leads to severe symptoms.
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