Kidney

The kidneys are bean-shaped excretory organs in vertebrates. Part of the urinary system, the kidneys filter wastes (especially urea) from the blood and excrete them, along with water, as urine. The medical field that studies the kidneys and diseases affecting the kidney is called nephrology, from the Greek name for the kidney; the adjective meaning "kidney-related" is renal, from the Latin.

Diseases and disorders

Congenital diseases of the kidneys

• Polycystic kidney disease
• Congenital hydronephrosis
• renal dysplasia
• Congenital obstruction of urinary tract
• horseshoe kidney
• duplicated ureter

Acquired diseases of the kidneys

• Renal failure
• Acute renal failure
• Chronic renal failure
• Kidney stones are a relatively common and particularly painful disorder.
• Pyelonephritis is infection of the kidneys and is frequently caused by complication of a urinary tract infection.
• Azotemia is a toxic condition characterized by abnormal and dangerously high levels of urea, creatinine, various body waste compounds, and other nitrogen-rich compounds in the blood.
• Hydronephrosis is the enlargement of one or both of the kidneys caused by obstruction of the flow of urine.
• In nephrotic syndrome, the glomerulus has been damaged so that a large amount of protein in the blood enters the urine. Other frequent features of the nephrotic syndrome include swelling, low serum albumin, and high cholesterol.
• kidney tumors
• Wilms tumor
• Renal cell carcinoma
• Glomerulonephritis
• Diabetic nephropathy
• Lupus nephritis
• Minimal change disease