The kidney vessels
Renal arteries and veins · arteriae et venae renales
The vessels that carry blood into and out of the kidneys.
What it does
Each renal artery branches from the aorta and enters a kidney, splitting into many smaller vessels that feed the kidney's filters. Each renal vein carries the filtered blood back to the inferior vena cava.
Surprising fact
The kidneys receive around a fifth of the blood pumped by your heart, far more than their size would suggest, because their job is to filter it.
Why it matters
A narrowed renal artery can raise blood pressure, because the kidney mistakes the poor flow for low blood pressure and releases hormones to push it up.
Nearby
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Sources
Drafted with AI help; awaiting a human fact-check against these sources.
Open in the 3D atlas · Suggest a correction · Not medical advice.
3D models: Z-Anatomy & BodyParts3D (CC BY-SA 4.0 / 2.1 JP). Card text CC BY 4.0.