Surface projection of arterial segments in the human kidney

Study of intrarenal arterial segments of human kidney by the corrosion cast method has been carried out on 100 kidneys obtained within 24 h of death. The five arterial segments which are normally described, namely, apical, upper, middle, lower and posterior, were reduced to four in 46% of the kidneys due to either absence of the apical segment or fusion of the upper and middle or middle and lower segments. The number of segments was very rarely (1%) reduced to three due to the absence of the posterior and apical segments. The apical segment was absent in 15%. The upper and middle segments were combined in 14% and the middle and lower segments in 17%. The surface projections of different segments were variable depending upon the intrarenal branching pattern of the segmental arteries.