ABSTRACT
The kidneys are vital to the maintenance of equilibrium between the food and drink we consume and the excretion of £uid in the form of urine. We also lose £uid through perspiration and, to a lesser extent, respiration. The kidneys and associated control systems are able to monitor £uid balance and, by extension, circulatory blood volume. In more primitive animals, such as amphibia, the skin also is a major component in the regulation of £uid balance, so a portion of what is now known about the function of the human kidney has been inferred from the effects of hormones and other agents on the rate of ion
CONTENTS
13.1 Kidney Function ................................................................................................................ 328 13.1.1 Kidney Structure .................................................................................................... 328
13.2 Kidney Function Tests: Formulae ....................................................................................333 13.2.1 Renal Clearance ......................................................................................................333 13.2.2 Glomerular Filtration Rate....................................................................................334 13.2.3 Effective Renal Plasma Flow ................................................................................334 13.2.4 Tubular Reabsorption and Secretion ..................................................................334 13.2.5 Maximal Tubular Reabsorption and Secretion .................................................335 13.2.6 Renal Plasma and Blood Flow .............................................................................336 13.2.7 Filtration Fraction...................................................................................................336 13.2.8 Osmolar Clearance and Free Water Clearance ..................................................336
