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Pelvic Kidney: A Review of the Literature
Seif Eid1, Joe Iwanaga2, Marios Loukas1
1Department of Anatomical Sciences, St. George's University, St. George's, GRD.
Abstract:
Kidney development is a complex process that begins during the sixth to eighth weeks of life. Failure of ascent of the kidney will cause the kidney to remain in the pelvis i.e., pelvic kidney. Here, we review this entity in detail and illustrate such embryological derailment. In most cases, a pelvic kidney is an incidental finding and is usually asymptomatic. Anatomic variations of the renal vasculature have been reported in cases of pelvic kidneys and these are highlighted in this review. Clinicians who treat patients for renal or pelvic disease or interpret images of the pelvis should be well informed of the anatomy and embryology of the pelvic kidney.
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