FUNCTIONAL CHANGES IN EXPERIMENTAL HYDRONEPHROSIS

Abstract

The effects of back-pressure on the kidney have been studied by a number of investigators in the clinical, physiological and pathological fields. The records of experimental and clinical cases show that with partial or complete occlusion of the ureter hydronephrosis almost invariably results. Instances in which atrophy has occurred have been reported, but a careful study of the records reveals but few in which there was a true, primary atrophy—that is, one that was not preceded by a temporary hydronephrosis. A thorough review of the literature on this point has recently been presented by Scott.¹Kawasoye,²in a publication that appeared at about the same time, discusses at length the difficulty of producing complete atresia of the ureter. His own method consisted in tightly knotting the ureter and ligating the free end. In ten rabbits so treated, the histological evidences of hydronephrosis were found in every instance, the