The top image shows an angiogram of the abdominal aorta. Iodinated contrast has been injected into a small catheter placed into the aorta through the femoral artery. The contrast flows into two kidneys. Each kidney is supplied by a single renal artery. The lower image in this frame shows a 3-D computerized tomographic reconstruction of the same patient.
Contrast is injected intravenously and multiple axial images are obtained by a CAT scan machine.
These images are then manipulated to show certain regions of interest, in this case, the aorta, renal arteries and the kidneys. These two images show a patient with two renal arteries of the left kidney. The image on the left is an angiogram obtained by injecting contrast directly into the artery of the lower pole of the kidney. The image on the right is the corresponding 3-D CAT scan illustrating both the upper and lower pole arteries. Return to Normal Kidney Development.