[Application of transmission and scanning electron microscopy in experimental obstructive uropathy: I. Glomerular...

In this research we use the Electronic Transmission and Sweep Microscope to study the morphostructural modifications undergone by the renal glomerulus in experimental obstructive uropathy. The most significant alterations take place at the level of the basal lamina of the glomerulus, where progressive thickening anf folding occurs. The podocytes display, mainly in the late groups, loss of the digit-shaped character of their secondary prolongations, with shortening and thickening of these. They also take on an anarchic arrangement and are pseudofused to one another, forming a cellular lamina in contact with the underlying basal membrane. These morphostructural changes justify the reduction in glomerular filtration that takes place in obstructive uropathy.