The renal vascular system of the monkey: a gross anatomical description

This study was conducted on two species of monkeys, Macaca fascicularis and Macaca mulatta, to describe their gross renal vascular morphology. After death, twelve monkeys were perfused with isotonic saline to flush their vascular systems. The monkeys were then perfused either with latex or methyl methacrylate, or both, one into the arterial and the other into the venous system. The results indicated that there were six to eight arterial segments in the monkey kidney, each supplied by a segmental artery. The anterior segments were named apical, upper, middle and lower, while the posterior segments were named posterior-apical, superior, intermediate and inferior. The branching patterns of both the anterior and posterior segmental arteries were classified into one of four types: magistral, cruciate, bifurcating or quadripartite. The renal vein generally collects blood from three or four large intrarenal veins. Peripheral to this, veins accompanied arteries and were given their corresponding names. Despite this juxtaposition of veins and arteries, and the resulting convention in naming vessels, the intrarenal venous system was organised into three regions. Each region was arranged around an anterior and a posterior large intrarenal vein. The various segments of the kidney, as defined by the arterial system, were united by the arcuate veins, which anastomose throughout the corticomedullary region and drain into the large intrarenal veins mentioned above. The gross renal vascular system of the monkey was compared to, and contrasted with, human and canine renal vascular anatomy.