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Chapter 1 - Normal Human Kidney Development and Congenital Anomalies of the Kidneys and Urinary Tract

from Section 1 - Normal and Abnormal Human Kidney Development

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 August 2023

By
Paul J. D. Winyard ,
Raffaele Napolitano  and
Neil J. Sebire
Edited by
Helen Liapis
Helen Liapis
Affiliation:
Ludwig Maximilian University, Nephrology Center, Munich, Adjunct Professor and Washington University St Louis, Department of Pathology and Immunology, Retired Professor
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Summary

We present the sequence of events leading to the permanent human kidney. Nephrogenesis begins around 22 days after fertilisation and completes around the 34–36th week of gestation. There are three pairs of kidneys in human development: the pronephros, mesonephros and metanephros, arising sequentially from intermediate mesoderm on the dorsal body wall. The first two pairs involute and are resorbed during fetal life, but they are essential precursors to the metanephros and normal adult kidneys do not develop if they are disrupted. Human metanephric kidney development begins around day 28 post conception when the ureteric bud arises as an outpouching of the distal mesonephric duct/Wolffian duct. Glomeruli form from 8–9 weeks and nephrogenesis continues in the outer rim of the cortex until 34 weeks. Perturbation of early pathways can lead to a range of phenotypes including renal agenesis, dysplasia and duplex kidneys, as well as malpositioning defects such as pelvic or horseshoe kidneys if they fail to ascend to their normal 12th thoracic to 3rd lumbar vertebral site during development.

Keywords

PronephrosmesonephrosmetanephrosCAKUTnephron endowmentdysplasiahypoplasiaAsk–Upmark kidney
Type
Chapter
Information
Pediatric Nephropathology & Childhood Kidney Tumors , pp. 1 - 16
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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