[Two cases of the horseshoe kidney]

The present report is concerned with two cases of the horseshoe kidney. During the dissecting practice at Gifu University School of Medicine in 1991, the case 1 was found in a female Japanese cadaver of 84 years old and the case 2 in a female Japanese cadaver of 84 years old and the case 2 in a female Japanese cadaver of 85 years old. 1) In both cases, the two kidneys were united at their lower ends across the midline of the body. The part of fusion called the isthmus consisted of renal tissues. 2) In both the cases 1 and 2, the hilus of each kidney opened anteriorly, and the ureters passed in front of the isthmus and entered the urinary bladder normally. The location of each kidney was lower than that of the normal kidney. 3) Surplus arteries arising from the abdominal aorta were observed in the cases 1 and 2. In the case 1, one surplus artery entered the left kidney and the isthmus. In the case 2, five surplus arteries were observed; two arteries entered the right kidney, one the left kidney and two the isthmus. 4) The incidence of the horseshoe kidney during the dissecting practice at Gifu University School of Medicine from 1971 to 1991 was 0.33% (three out of 908 bodies). 5) In both the cases 1 and 2, no malformation was observed in other organs.