Outline the functional anatomy of the kidney (40% of marks). Outline the regulation of renal blood flow (60% of marks).
It was expected that answers include sections on the blood supply, the nephron (including the difference between the cortical and juxta-medullary nephrons) and innervation. A number of candidates failed to quantify renal blood flow and to define autoregulation. The concept that it’s the flow that’s regulated was not described by some. Tubuloglomerular feedback was generally described correctly but a reasonable number had the blood flow increasing when an increased sodium was sensed at the macula densa.
There's not much you can say in 4 minutes about the functional anatomy of the kidneys, and after many drafts this is the best one could come up with. Though it still looks empty of meaning, it still should hit the right notes, judging by the examiner comments.
Functional anatomy:
Kaissling, B., and J. Dørup. "Functional anatomy of the kidney." Diuretics. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, 1995. 1-66.
Tisher, C. Craig. "Functional anatomy of the kidney." Hospital practice 13.5 (1978): 53-65.
Sands, JEFF M., and J. W. Verlander. "Functional anatomy of the kidney." (2010): 1-26.
Just, Armin. "Mechanisms of renal blood flow autoregulation: dynamics and contributions." American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology 292.1 (2007): R1-R17.
Stein, Jay H. "Regulation of the renal circulation." Kidney international 38.4 (1990): 571-576.
Bertram, John F. "Structure of the renal circulation." Advances in Organ Biology Volume 9, 2000, Pages 1-16 (2000)
Kriz, Wilhelm, and Brigitte Kaissling. "Structural organization of the mammalian kidney." The kidney: physiology and pathophysiology 3 (1992): 587-654.
Braam B., Yip S., Cupples W.A. (2014) Anatomy, Physiology, and Pathophysiology of Renal Circulation. In: Lanzer P. (eds) PanVascular Medicine. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-37393-0_146-1