Anterior branch of renal artery
Ramus anterior arteriae renalis
The larger front division of the renal artery, lying in front of the renal pelvis and giving most of the kidney's segmental arteries.
At a glance
- English
- Anterior branch of renal artery
- Latin (TA2)
- Ramus anterior arteriae renalis
- System
- Artery
- Region
- Trunk
- Side
- Paired, left and right
About the anterior branch of renal artery
Near the hilum of the kidney each renal artery usually splits into an anterior and a posterior division. The anterior branch, or anterior division, is the larger of the two. It runs forwards and outwards in the renal sinus, lying between the renal vein in front and the renal pelvis behind, and from it most of the kidney's segmental arteries arise.
The anterior division typically gives four segmental arteries. The superior (apical) segmental artery passes to the top of the kidney; the anterior superior and anterior inferior segmental arteries supply the upper and middle parts of the front of the organ; and the inferior segmental artery supplies the lower pole, front and back. The posterior division, by contrast, passes behind the renal pelvis and supplies a single posterior segment. Each segmental artery then divides into lobar and interlobar arteries that run between the renal pyramids towards the cortex.
Segmental arteries are end arteries: they do not join with their neighbours to any useful extent. A blocked branch of the anterior division therefore leads to an infarct of the segment it serves, usually seen on scans as a wedge of kidney that has lost its blood supply. The boundary between the territories of the anterior and posterior divisions is a relatively bloodless plane a little behind the lateral border of the kidney, sometimes called Brödel's line, through which surgeons may open the kidney to reach stones.
Knowledge of this branching matters in partial nephrectomy for tumours, where individual segmental vessels can be clamped, in percutaneous access to the collecting system and in transplant surgery. Accessory renal arteries entering the poles directly are common and must be recognised on imaging before such procedures.
Course and supply
- Arises from
- Arises from the renal artery near or within the hilum of the kidney, as the larger of its two main divisions.
- Ends in
- Ends by dividing into the superior, anterior superior, anterior inferior and inferior segmental arteries.
- Supplies
- Supplies the apex, the whole anterior surface and the lower pole of the kidney.
Anthromica
See the anterior branch of renal artery where it really sits, with every layer of the body around it.
- Every layer, one body. Peel from muscle to bone, nerve, vessel and organ, and turn it any way.
- English and Latin. Every structure named the way your exam names it.
- Quiz until it sticks. Short drills on the structures you keep missing.
Free to start. No card.
