title: Horseshoe kidney in an 80 year old with chronic kidney disease.
abstract: This image illustrates a horseshoe kidney from an elderly man that was being evaluated for chronic kidney disease associated with diabetes. Horseshoe kidney is the most common renal fusion abnormality, with an incidence of 1/400 worldwide and a male-to-female ratio of 2:1 and is not a cause of impaired kidney function. One theory of the abnormal fusion of the kidneys is that the metanephric blastemas close together before renal capsule maturation, resulting in fusion. The normal embryonic ascent of the fused kidney is disrupted by the inferior mesenteric artery, leaving the adult horseshoe kidney in a lower position than normal. About 90% of the time, the lower poles are fused and the excretory renal units and ureters are maintained separately.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Division of Nephrology and Hypertension, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University Chicago, IL, USA.
authors.forename: Hema
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ramkumar
authors.forename: Syed M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Ahmed
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Syed
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tuazon
mesh_terms: D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D006801:Humans; D007668:Kidney / Q000002:abnormalities* / Q000473:pathology; D007676:Kidney Failure, Chronic / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed