Cadaveric study of accessory renal arteries and its surgical correlation

The kidneys are one of the vital organs in the human body. It receives rich blood supply, nearly 25% of the cardiac output pass through the renal arteries to be filtered by the kidneys. These are end arteries with no anastomosis. Variations in the number and arrangement of the renal vessels are extremely common. The so called aberrant or accessory arteries are in fact, normal segmental arteries. Embryologically development of kidney is very complex, as it develops from pronephros, mesonephros and metanephros. The former two regresses but the arterial network to these segments may remain and lead to supernumerary renal arteries (two or more arteries to a single kidney). Current Literature reports great variability in renal blood supply, the number of renal arteries mentioned being the most frequently found variation. 1 It is most common renovascular anomaly, occurrence ranging from 25%-50% of kidneys. One or two accessory renal arteries are frequently found, especially on the left side. 2 Instead of entering the kidney at the hilus, they usually pierce the upper or lower part of the organ. Therefore understanding anatomy of the vascular variation of the kidney is essential for the clinicians or surgeons to perform safe procedures and for adequate surgical management. The variations described in the current observation present a unique pattern of congenital renal vascular variants having surgical and radiological importance. ABSTRACT