Variations in human renal arteries

Kidneys are especially irrigated by a pair of arteries originated from the aorta artery. The presence of additional renal arteries is the most frequent variation in this vascularization, an aspect important to be known in renal surgeries and radiological procedures (SAMPAIO; PASSOS, 1992). This study aimed to observe the prevalence of numeric variation and the origin of the additional renal artery. For this purpose, 24 cadavers and 26 blocks were used; each block contained the kidneys and their respective arteries and veins, the abdominal aorta and inferior vena cava, taken from adults of different ethnicity and genders, from the Department of Morphological Science, State University of Maringá (DCM/UEM) and Laboratory of Anatomy, Ingá Faculty (UNINGÁ). Among the examined pieces, 45 (forty five) presented single renal arteries and 5 (five) had double renal arteries; 3 (three) had only additional renal artery on the right side, and 1 (one) showed additional renal artery on the left side, and only 1 (one) also showed bilateral additional renal arteries.