We kidneys are vital organs in the retroperitoneal space,
The right kidney is lower, displaced by the liver’s base,
11 cm long, a fifth of cardiac output we receive,
We filter blood and make urine, till your bladder you relieve!

We are encased in several layers of fascia and fat,
There’s a tough fibrous layer, the renal capsule, right off the bat,
Then the perirenal fat, or adipose capsule of the kidney,
Which provides us with protection from physical injury.

Then the renal fascia which enclose, the kidneys and adrenal glands,
and the pararenal fat behind us, remember for exams!

From the abdominal aorta branch the paired renal arteries,
Sending us blood from the heart, in large quantities!
The blood leaves the kidneys, through renal veins, these two!
The hilum lets blood vessels, nerves, and the ureter pass through!

Hilar fat and lymphatic tissue, enclose your ureter and vessels,
And a fat-filled cavity, the renal sinus, next to hilar fat nestles.
The renal sinus contains the renal pelvis and calyces,
And separates the renal medullary tissue from these.

The kidney’s functional substance is the kidney parenchyma,
Made up of the renal cortex, and the renal medulla!
An adult human kidney, typically will enclose,
Around 7-18 cone-shaped renal lobes!

Each with renal cortex surrounding a renal pyramid,
Which is a portion of the renal medulla, remember, kid!
Between pyramids are renal columns - medullary extensions
of the renal cortex, which is anchored through these suspensions!

Each renal pyramid’s apex, or renal papilla, connects,
Draining into a minor calyx, which urine production collects.
Several minor calyces merge to form major calyces,
which pass urine to the flat and funnel-shaped renal pelvis.

The urine drains from the renal pelvis to the ureter,
Which passes along the urine to be stored in the bladder!

We each have a million nephrons, our structural and functional units,
At the nephron’s start, filtration occurs in the glomerulus
Spanning the cortex and medulla, nephrons bear the burden,
Of filtration, reabsorption, secretion, and excretion to produce urine!

Kidneys control the volume of various body fluid compartments,
Help regulate blood pressure, and remove toxins of all assortments.
We excrete metabolic waste and control electrolyte concentrations,
Expelling hydrogen, ammonium, potassium in our secretions.

Other secretions into urine include urea, from protein catabolism,
And uric acid, from nucleic acid metabolism.
But water, sodium, glucose, amino acids and bicarbonate,
Are reabsorbed into the body, not released when you urinate!

Some other kidney functions on the nephron don’t depend,
Like synthesizing hormones, erythropoietin and renin.

Music/Lyrics/Visual © Neural Academy

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