Cortex and medulla

CORTEX AND MEDULLA - KIDNEY

  • The cortex presents a granular appearance and is studded with numerous minute dark points, the renal or Malphigian corpuscles
  • It consists of dilated origins of the renal tubules, the Bowman’s capsule which encloses a tuft of capillaries, the glomerulus
  • The medulla is pale and presents at its junction with the cortex an intermediate vascular zone
  • The medulla consists of uriniferous tubules, blood vessels and lymphatics connected together by connective tissue
  • The straight portions of the tubules appear as conical masses called - renal pyramids (20 in number with their bases directed towards the cortex)
  • Between the pyramids a part of the cortex dips inwards forming the renal columns of Bertini
  • They present at the apex, the renal-papilla, which is enclosed or embraced by the funnel-shaped end of a tube -the calyx minor, which opens into a larger calyx major
  • Two such calyces major from the two extremities unite at the hilus to form the excretory duct, the ureter. The renal pelvis is absent
Last modified: Thursday, 9 February 2012, 10:09 AM