Lattice Pelvic Kidney With Neoplasm and Cysts - Male, 78 Years

The Kidneys

The kidneys are a pair of bean-shaped organs that sit just below the ribs on either side of the spine. The kidneys filter blood, maintain healthy electrolyte levels in the body and excrete waste material as urine. 

Parts of the Kidney 

Each kidney contains more than a million filtering units called nephrons. Each nephron contains glomeruli, which are tiny blood vessels that filter the blood. Waste material is passed to the renal tubules, which transport it out of the body as urine. The primary parts of the kidneys include:

• The renal artery is a large blood vessel that delivers blood into the kidney.
• The renal capsule is a layer of tissue that protects the surface of the kidney. 
• The renal cortex is the next layer of the kidney, where nephrons begin filtering the blood.
• The renal medulla is the middle layer of the kidney, containing the glomeruli and renal tubes, and pyramid-shaped structures that transport fluid in and out of the kidneys.
• The renal pelvis connects the kidneys to the bladder.
• The renal vein carries filtered blood from the kidney back to the heart.

Conditions That Affect the Kidneys

Kidney conditions often occur as a result of diabetes, high blood pressure or trauma to the area. A kidney neoplasm is a solid tumor or abnormal growth in the kidney, which can be either benign or malignant. Kidney neoplasms are common, with a range of prognoses depending on the cause. The most common kidney tumor is renal cell carcinoma (RCC), a form of kidney cancer which typically requires surgical removal.

Kidney cysts are fluid-filled sacs that form on or in the kidneys. Simple kidney cysts typically don’t require treatment. Complex kidney cysts or those that are the result of polycystic kidney disease (PKD), are considered more serious and require treatment.