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Frequency of multiple renal arteries in human fetuses

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Abstract

Purpose

The aim of the present study was to determine the frequency of occurrence of multiple renal arteries in human fetuses.

Methods

Sixty kidneys from human fetuses (32 males and 28 females) were used, fixed and kept in 10% formol solution. The fetal age was estimated from the hallux–calcaneus length and ranged from 20 to 37 weeks of gestation, with a mean of 25.63 weeks. The renal arteries were dissected without the aid of optical instruments, and their number, length, topographical layout in relation to their origins in the aorta walls and distribution according to gender and kidney (left or right) were determined.

Results

Out of the 60 kidneys investigated, 78.33% had a single renal artery and 21.67% had multiple renal arteries. Most of the renal arteries emerged from the lateral wall of the aorta between the levels of the lower third of the twelfth thoracic vertebra and the upper third of the first lumbar vertebra. The length ranged from 0.15 to 1.5 cm and was slightly greater in females.

Conclusions

The frequency of findings of multiple renal arteries was 21.67%.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Ailton Vieira Santos and Luis Carlos Ferreira São José, anatomy laboratory technicians in the Federal University of Sergipe and Tiradentes University, for their support in preparing the cadavers, since without their collaboration, this work could not have been accomplished.

Conflict of interest

The paper has not been submitted for publication elsewhere and all authors were fully involved in the study and preparation of the manuscript. There is no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Federal University of Sergipe (UFS), Aracaju, Sergipe, Brazil

    José Aderval Aragão, José Marcone de Oliveira Pacheco & Larissa Azevedo Silva

  2. Medical School of Tiradentes University (UNIT), Av. Murilo Dantas 300, Farolândia, Sergipe, Aracaju, 49032490, Brazil

    José Aderval Aragão & Francisco Prado Reis

  3. Avenida Marechal Rondon, s/n, Departamento de Morfologia, Jardim Rosa Elze, Cidade Universitária Professor José Aloísio de Campos –São Cristovão, Sergipe, Brazil

    José Aderval Aragão, José Marcone de Oliveira Pacheco & Larissa Azevedo Silva

  4. Rua Aloisio Campos 500, Bairro Atalaia, Aracaju,, 49035-020, Sergipe, Brazil

    José Aderval Aragão

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  1. José Aderval Aragão
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  2. José Marcone de Oliveira Pacheco
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  3. Larissa Azevedo Silva
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  4. Francisco Prado Reis
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Correspondence to José Aderval Aragão.

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Aragão, J.A., de Oliveira Pacheco, J.M., Silva, L.A. et al. Frequency of multiple renal arteries in human fetuses. Surg Radiol Anat 34, 133–136 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00276-011-0860-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00276-011-0860-4

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