UNIVERSITY OF THE PEOPLE
HEALTH SCIENCE DEPARTMENT
HS 2211 HUMAN ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY
WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT UNIT 7
AUGUST 1,2022
INTRODUCTION
The urinary system is basically the renal system of the body. It is made up of the kidneys,
urinary bladder, urethra, and ureters that work together to filter blood, produce, store, transport,
and subsequently eliminate liquid waste from the body. The kidney is the principal organ of the
urinary system and is susceptible to a variety of infections and clinical conditions that may be
detrimental to the structural or functional integrity of the urinary system. Thus, this paper will
attempt to look at "ectopic kidney" a congenital defect of the kidney that can cause other severe
malfunctioning of the urinary system.
Keywords: renal ectopia, retroperitoneal, misplaced, lumbar area, relocate.
Ectopic kidney, also known as "renal ectopia" is a congenital defect that occurs during
fetal development. This condition describes the misplacement of one or two of the kidneys from
their normal sublumbar location. The cause of this relocation of the kidney(s) is still not known
(NIDDK, n.d).
Under Normal Conditions
In normal Conditions, at week 4 of fetal development, the mesoderm reorganizes and
condenses into small epithelial buds in the lower abdomen, which is inside the pelvis. After a
series of embryonic processes, the little buds form the metanephric kidneys during the first 9
weeks of development. At this time, they mechanically relocate themselves to their permanent
positions (the lumbar region) by ascension, revascularization, and medial rotation (Ken Hub,
n.d).
However, normal kidneys are reddish bilateral bean-shaped organs located retroperitoneal in the
abdomen, just below the ribcage. When viewed posteriorly, they lie on the two lateral sides of the
vertebral column. Encased in a complex layer of fascia and adipose, the kidneys extend from T12
to L3, with the left one slightly superior to the right one (Jones, 2019). Each kidney measure up
to about 11cm long, 6cm wide, and 4cm in thickness. In males each kidney weighs up to about
125- 175, and 115 - 155g in females (OpenStax college, 2018)
URINARY SYSTEM ANATOMY
Rena
Righe
Right
Fig. 1. The interior and normal anatomical position of the human kidneys.
Internally, structures of the kidney include the renal parenchyma, which is divided into the inner
medulla and outer and cortex. Together these two structures form the triangular renal pyramid
that has an apex called the renal papilla. The cup-shaped major calices formed from the merging
of minor calices come together to form the funnel-shaped renal pelvis that is continuous with the
ureter from which urine is drained. The renal hilum is the median area of the kidney that is
marked by a deep fissure. Furthermore, the two kidneys are in close association with the
Diaphragm, supra adrenal gland, liver, pancreas, stomach, duodenum, 11th, and 12th rib, spleen