symptom of kidney stones : Kidney Disease

The kidneys are bean-shaped organs, normally paired, that lie deep within the abdomen on either side of the lumbar spine. They play a critical role in filtering the blood and in helping maintain normal physiologic levels of important minerals and electrolytes and also help govern total body water content. The kidneys also contribute hormones into the circulation that can affect blood pressure. The kidneys have collecting systems for gathering urine and are connected to long muscular tubes, called ureters, that transmit urine into the bladder for storage and later excretion.

Many different kinds of diseases can affect the kidneys, ureters and bladder as well as the vessels that supply blood to and drain blood from these organs. These include acute and chronic infections, autoimmune diseases, clotting disorders that can affect the renal arteries or veins, cancer (both primary and secondary), trauma, kidney (renal) stone disease and a host of developmental and congenital disorders. Medical imaging continues to play a critical role in both the initial diagnosis and treatment follow-up for most diseases. Pre-surgical planning is greatly aided by the use of imaging, especially in patients being considered for renal donation (transplant), surgical resection for cancer, ureteral obstruction, and kidney stone disease as well as in the evaluation of patients who have already received a transplanted kidney.

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