Kidney and Urinary System Terms

A fibrous envelope of tissue that surrounds the kidney.

A fibrous envelope of tissue that surrounds the kidney.

A drug that is used to treat kidney cancer and is being studied in the treatment of other types of cancer.

Color is a poor guide here, since beets and some medicines redden urine while a serious cause may leave it looking normal.

Swelling of the drainage spaces is a clue rather than a diagnosis, and it can linger after the blockage that produced it has gone.

Abnormal enlargement of the ureter caused by any blockage that prevents urine from draining into the bladder.

The most common type of kidney cancer.

A birth defect in which the opening of the urethra (the tube through which urine leaves the body) is not in its normal place.

The original brand of terazosin, a tablet built up in stages because its early doses can drop blood pressure abruptly.

Inability to control the flow of urine from the bladder (urinary incontinence) or the escape of stool from the rectum (fecal incontinence).

The x-ray picture of the urinary tract outlined by dye that the kidneys have filtered out of the blood.

The examination itself, in which timed x-rays follow dye through the kidneys and down into the bladder.

Intravesical treatments are instilled directly into the bladder through a catheter, giving higher local drug exposure while limiting effects on the rest of the body.

A timed series of x-rays that follows injected dye down the urinary tract to show where drainage has stalled.

A condition in which the skin and the whites of the eyes become yellow, urine darkens, and the color of stool becomes lighter than normal.

A substance being studied in the treatment of bladder cancer, lung cancer, and other types of cancer.

One of a pair of organs in the abdomen.

Kidney cancer includes renal cell carcinoma in adults and Wilms tumor in young children, arising from different structures within the kidney.

A condition in which the kidneys stop working and are not able to remove waste and extra water from the blood or keep body chemicals in balance.

A test in which blood or urine samples are checked for the amounts of certain substances released by the kidneys.