Morphometric study of a horseshoe kidney.
OBJECTIVE
To describe a horseshoe kidney, a congenital anomaly of the upper urinary tract.


METHODS
A case study of horseshoe kidney harvested from a 62-year-old cadaver at Gazi University Medical School is presented.


RESULTS
The right and left kidneys were fused at their lower poles by a parenchymal isthmus located ventral to the abdominal aorta and formed a U-shape with two unequal arms. The isthmus of the ectopic kidney was placed obliquely to the left at the level of the fourth and fifth lumbar vertebra. The left kidney was larger and longer than the right one. The kidneys were supplied by three renal arteries arising from the abdominal aorta. Two arteries on the right side supplied blood of the two kidneys, while the third artery that directly originated from the aorta, above the origin of inferior mesenteric artery, supplied the isthmus. Venous drainage of the both kidneys and the isthmus were drained by three veins that opened independently into the inferior vena cava. The right ureter was duplicated in origin.


CONCLUSIONS
This report shows that knowledge of anomalies such as this is very important in planning and conducting surgical procedures.
Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine, University of Gazi, Ankara, Turkey.
Hale
H
Oktem
Rabet
R
Gozil
Engin
E
Calguner
Meltem
M
Bahcelioglu
Serdar
S
Mutlu
Ayla
A
Kurkcuoglu
Deniz
D
Yucel
Eyup
E
Senol
Tevfik
T
Babus
Dural
D
Kadioglu
D002102:Cadaver; D006801:Humans; D007668:Kidney / Q000002:abnormalities* / Q000098:blood supply / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009929:Organ Size; D012077:Renal Artery / Q000002:abnormalities; D012082:Renal Veins / Q000002:abnormalities; D014682:Vena Cava, Inferior