| kidney basin | A shallow basin of curved, kidney-shaped design, used to collect body fluids or as a container for various other liquids. (05 Mar 2000) |
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| kidney calculi | Calculi occurring in the kidney. Calculi too large to pass spontaneously range in size from 1 cm to the staghorn stones that occupy the renal pelvis and calyces. Bilateral renal calculi cause additional problems, with infection a common occurrence. (12 Dec 1998) |
| kidney calices | Recesses of the kidney pelvis which divides into two wide, cup-shaped major renal calices, with each major calix subdivided into 7 to 14 minor calices. Urine empties into a minor calix from collecting tubules, then passes through the major calix, renal pelvis, and ureter to enter the urinary bladder. (12 Dec 1998) |
| kidney concentrating ability | The ability of the kidney to excrete in the urine high concentrations of solutes from the blood plasma. (12 Dec 1998) |
| kidney cortex | The outer part of the substance of the kidney, composed mainly of glomeruli and convoluted tubules. (12 Dec 1998) |
| kidney cortex necrosis | The death of all the functioning renal cells of the kidney cortex with continued viability of the majority of the medullary units. It is due usually to the arterial distribution peculiar to the kidney which makes the renal cortex more susceptible to diminished blood flow. (12 Dec 1998) |
| kidney, cystic | A kidney containing one or more cysts, including polycystic disease (kidney, polycystic), solitary cyst, multiple simple cysts, and retention cysts (associated with parenchymal scarring). (12 Dec 1998) |
| kidney dialysis | <technique> The process of separating crystalloids and colloids in solution by the difference in their rates of diffusion through a semipermeable membrane, crystalloids pass through readily, colloids very slowly or not at all. <technique> A medical procedure that uses a machine to filter waste products from the bloodstream and restore the bloods normal constituents. A necessary form of treatment in the patient with end-stage renal disease. In most circumstances, kidney dialysis is administered in a fixed schedule of three times per week. See: haemodialysis. Origin: Gr. Lysis = dissolution (26 Nov 1998) |
| kidney disease | <disease> Any one of several chronic conditions that are caused by damage to the cells of the kidney. People who have had diabetes for a long time may have kidney damage. (09 Oct 1997) |
| kidney failure | <nephrology> The inability of the kidneys to adequately remove wastes from the bloodstream, resulting in severe metabolic derangement's. See: acute renal failure. (27 Sep 1997) |
| kidney failure, acute | A clinical syndrome characterised by a sudden decrease in glomerular filtration rate, often to values of less than 1 to 2 ml per minute. It is usually associated with oliguria (urine volumes of less than 400 ml per day) and is always associated with biochemical consequences of the reduction in glomerular filtration rate such as a rise in blood urea nitrogen (bun) and serum creatinine concentrations. (12 Dec 1998) |
| kidney failure, chronic | An irreversible and usually progressive reduction in renal function in which both kidneys have been damaged by a variety of diseases to the extent that they are unable to adequately remove the metabolic products from the blood and regulate the body's electrolyte composition and acid-base balance. Chronic kidney failure requires haemodialysis or surgery, usually kidney transplantation. (12 Dec 1998) |
| kidney: gallium imaging | <radiology> 10-20% of Ga-67 excreted via GU tract; no renal activity after 24hrs abnormal uptake (images at 48-72 hrs): tumour, primary renal tumour (variable uptake), lymphoma/leukaemia, metastases (e.g., melanoma), inflammation, acute pyelonephritis (88% sensitivity); abscess, lobar nephroma, others, collagen vascular disease, vasculitis, Wegener granulomatosis, amyloidosis, haemochromatosis, hepatic failure, antineoplastic drugs, transplant rejection: acute, chronic, ATN see also: gallium: indications (12 Dec 1998) |
| kidney glomerulus | Globular tufts of capillaries, one projecting into the expanded end or capsule of each of the uriniferous tubules, which together with its surrounding capsule (glomerular capsule) constitute the renal corpuscle. (12 Dec 1998) |
| kidney medulla | The internal portion of the kidney, consisting of striated conical masses, the renal pyramids, whose bases are adjacent to the cortex and whose apices form prominent papillae projecting into the lumen of the minor calyces. (12 Dec 1998) |