"Each kidney receives 10% of the total blood volume per minute via a large branch of the abdominal aorta known as the renal artery"
The renal artery usually divides into two brances before entering the kidney; one to the anterior part, the other to the posterior part. In the hilum these arteries branch to form interlobar arteries which are located between the renal pyramids. At the corticomedullary junction, these arteries form a series of vessels, the arcuate arteries, that to a large extent remain at the junction occupying the same curved plane. The afferent arterioles, which supply blood to the capillaries of the glomerulus, also arise from the interlobular arteries. From these capillaries, blood passes to the efferent arterioles, which in turn branch to form a peritubular capillary network. This network carries blood to the proximal and distal tubules and carries absorbed ions and low molecular-weight material away. The efferent artieroles give rise to 10 to 25 long, hairpin-like capillaries, the vasa recta. The vasa recta closely follows and wraps around Henle's loop and the collecting tubule and provies nourishment and oxygen to the medulla [2,3].
Venae recta deliver their blood to arcuate veins, vessels that follow the paths of the same-named arteries, draining blood from the medulla. Stellate veins collect cortical blood and pass in to the interlobular veins, that also recieve blood from the efferent arterioles. The interlobular veins deliver their blood to the arcuate veins which drain both the medulla and the cortex into the interlobar veins. The interlobar veins unite, near the hilum, to form the renal veins which delivers the blood to the inferior vena cava of the heart [2].
