Comparative anatomy of the superficial vessels of the mammalian kidney demonstrated by plastic (vinyl acetate) injections and corrosion.

In spite of the fact that considerable work has been done on the circulation in the kidney, little attention has been paid to its superficial vessels. Morison (1926), in his paper on the renal circulation, illustrated (figs. 3, 4 and 5) the superficial veins of the kidney of man, dog and cat, as revealed by the celluloid injection and corrosion method. He described highly developed stellate veins in the cat and poorly developed ones in man, but gave no description of the superficial veins in the dog. Trueta, Barclay, Daniel, Franklin & Prichard (1947) studied the intrarenal circulation by various techniques and gave a detailed description of both the arterial and venous systems. They described (p. 164) superficial veins forming large venous trunks underlying the capsule in the kidney of the cat and comparable, but less developed, systems in man and the dog. It was our purpose to study in some detail the superficial vessels of the mammalian kidney as seen after plastic injections and corrosion.