Experiments on Ligation of Renal Vein

The effect of partial or complete obstruction of the renal vein on the secretion of urine and the histology of the kidney has been investigated repeatedly. Conflicting results reported in the literature have been reviewed by Rowntree, Fitz and Geraghty, 1 Orofino, 2 and Nicastro. 3 Little has been added to the histological description of such kidneys since Buchwald and Litten's 4 report. The outstanding feature is degeneration and atrophy of the tubules with apparently relatively normal glomeruli. Other studies have been concerned with the development of an adequate collateral circulation to maintain the functional capacity of the kidney. This is apparently much better in dogs than in either cats or rabbits, and Alesandri, 5 Rown-tree, Fitz and Geraghty were able to maintain dogs in excellent condition for a time even when one kidney had been removed and the other renal vein ligated. Usually, however, even in the dog when the renal vein has been ligated a progressive atrophy of the kidney follows with decrease and finally cessation of all urinary secretion. In cats and rabbits this is the constant finding.

Orofino found that from 5 to 20 days after ligation of one renal vein in dogs, the urine from that kidney was decreased in amount, and contained lower concentrations of urea and chloride but more albumin than the urine from the normal kidney. Dicker and Demoor 6 found the volume of urine from the ligated kidney greater (2 to 3 times) than from the normal side 6 to 8 weeks after operation, while the concentration of urea was reduced, that of chloride was increased. These experiments suggested that the effect of temporary obstruction to the renal vein and the resulting anemia of the kidney produces its greatest effect on the highly specialized epithelium of the renal tubules.