renal pyramid

renal pyramid, any of the triangular sections of tissue that constitute the medulla, or inner substance, of the kidney. The pyramids consist mainly of tubules that transport urine from the cortical, or outer, part of the kidney, where urine is produced, to the calyces, or cup-shaped cavities in which urine collects before it passes through the ureter to the bladder. The point of each pyramid, called the papilla, projects into a calyx. The surface of the papilla has a sievelike appearance because of the many small openings from which urine droplets pass. Each opening represents a tubule called the duct of Bellini, into which collecting tubules within the pyramid converge. Muscle fibres lead from the calyx to the papilla. As the muscle fibres of the calyx contract, urine flows through the ducts of Bellini into the calyx. The urine then flows to the bladder by way of the renal pelvis and a duct known as the ureter.

Between the pyramids are major arteries termed the interlobar arteries. Each interlobar artery branches over the base of the pyramid. Smaller arteries and capillaries divide off from the interlobar arteries to supply each pyramid and the cortex with a rich network of blood vessels. Blockage of an interlobar artery can cause degeneration of a renal pyramid.

Some animals, such as rats and rabbits, have a kidney composed of only one renal pyramid. In humans each kidney has a dozen or more pyramids.