STUDY OF HUMAN FETAL KIDNEY

Background: The knowledge of the basic human morphology and developmental anatomy is very imperative for diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. The question of study of human renal development arose for prenatal diagnosis of congenital malformations. There are few reports regarding the morphological development of human kidney, So, our study aims at contributing to the knowledge of morphogenesis and histogenesis of human kidney. At various gestations. Materials and method: 30 human foetal kidneys between 10 to 34 weeks of gestation were dissected and processed in paraffin, 7mm thick sections were stained with Haematoxylin-Eosin and Mason’s Trichrome stains. They were divided into 5 groups according to CRL and light microscopy examination done. Results: Morphogenesis of human kidney starts at 5th week of gestation and extends upto last month of last trimester of pregnancy, renal pelvis was very small and undifferentiated at 10 weeks and fully differentiated at 18 weeks. Zone of transition between cortex and medulla appeared at the starting of 14 weeks, presence of lobulation in kidneys was observed as early as 10 weeks, lobules start fusing with each other at 15 weeks of gestation. An arcade system along with well-defined pyramids was observed at 16-18 weeks. Conclusion: The present work made an attempt to do detailed light microscopy of human kidney at various stages of gestation, the data on which is scanty in Indian population.