Cuddling Kidneys

To some people horseshoes are lucky. Not so to those with fused or horseshoe kidneys. Aptly named, they’re not as rare as you might think; in fact they‘re the most common renal [kidney] anomaly in humans, affecting 1 in 500 of us. And for these unlucky people, the most common type of complication that arises is urinary tract infections and renal stones, which can be painful and cause serious health problems. The defect is caused during development; the normal rotation of the kidneys doesn’t fully complete, leaving the kidneys stuck together and facing a different way. Here doctors have used a multidetector CT scanner to take a closer look at the urinary tract and diagnose the malformation. Multiple renal stones can be seen – as white masses – within the patient’s fused kidneys.

Written by Yalda Javadi

Yalda Javadi

Writer

Yalda recently hung up her lab coat to venture into the exciting world of science communication. She’s currently the Senior Grant Communications Officer at Great Ormond Street Hospital and runs her own science and art magazine.

Website

• Image by Malai Muttarak
• Chiang Mai University, Thailand
• Originally published under a Creative Commons Licence (BY 4.0)
• Research published in Biomedical Imaging and Intervention Journal, January 2012