Intrarenal veins of left kidney
Venae intrarenales renis sinistri
The network of veins inside the left kidney that gathers blood from cortex and medulla and leads it to the left renal vein.
At a glance
- English
- Intrarenal veins of left kidney
- Latin (TA2)
- Venae intrarenales renis sinistri
- System
- Vein
- Region
- Trunk
- Side
- Single, on the midline
About the intrarenal veins of left kidney
Within the left kidney the venous blood retraces the path of the arteries, but in reverse and with one important difference. Blood leaving the glomeruli of the outer cortex passes through the peritubular capillaries and collects into interlobular veins, which run straight down through the cortex. Just under the fibrous capsule, small veins radiate in a star pattern before joining them; these are the stellate veins.
The interlobular veins open into arcuate veins, which curve along the boundary between cortex and medulla over the bases of the renal pyramids. The arcuate veins also take in the venae rectae, the straight vessels that climb out of the medulla after looping beside the loops of Henle and the collecting ducts. From the arcuate arches, interlobar veins run between the pyramids, through the renal columns, towards the renal sinus.
In the sinus the interlobar veins converge into a few larger trunks, which leave through the hilum and unite to form the left renal vein. That vein is long: it crosses in front of the aorta, just below the origin of the superior mesenteric artery, to reach the inferior vena cava.
Unlike the intrarenal arteries, which are end arteries supplying separate segments, the intrarenal veins communicate freely with one another at several levels, especially in the arcuate arches. Blocking one venous branch therefore does not cut off drainage of a region, which is why a surgeon may divide segmental veins during partial nephrectomy far more safely than segmental arteries. The venae rectae help preserve the concentration gradient of the medulla, because they run beside the descending vasa recta and exchange water and solutes with them.
Course and drainage
- Begins at
- Begins in the peritubular capillaries of the cortex, the stellate veins under the capsule and the venae rectae of the medulla.
- Drains into
- Interlobar veins converge in the renal sinus into trunks that unite at the hilum as the left renal vein.
- Drains
- Drains the cortex and medulla of the left kidney; the venae rectae help maintain the medullary concentration gradient.
Anthromica
See the intrarenal veins of left kidney 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.
