Human Anatomy: The Urinary System Flashcards

Identify the letter that indicates the major calyx.
A) A
B) B
C) C
D) D
E) E

Identify the letter that indicates the blood vessel that branches from the abdominal aorta
carrying oxygenated blood to the kidney.
A) A
B) B
C) C
D) D
E) E

Identify the letter that indicates the blood vessels that delineate the cortex from the medulla.
A) A
B) B
C) C
D) D
E) E

Identify the letter that indicates an expanded portion of the ureter.
A) A
B) B
C) C
D) D
E) E

Identify the letter that indicates a cortical radiate artery.
A) A
B) B
C) C
D) D
E) E

Identify the letter that indicates the afferent arteriole.
A) A
B) B
C) C
D) D
E) E

Identify the letter that indicates the vasa recta.
A) A
B) B
C) C
D) D
E) E

Identify the letter that indicates the glomerulus.
A) A
B) B
C) C
D) D
E) E

Identify the letter that indicates blood vessels that absorb solutes from the convoluted tubules.
A) A
B) B
C) C
D) D
E) E

Identify the letter that indicates the region of the nephron with receptors sensitive to
antidiuretic hormone (ADH).
A) A
B) B
C) C
D) D
E) E

Identify the letter that indicates the parietal layer of glomerular capsule.
A) A
B) B
C) C
D) D
E) E

Identify the letter that indicates the proximal convoluted tubule.
A) A
B) B
C) C
D) D
E) E

Identify the letter that indicates the efferent arteriole.
A) A
B) B
C) C
D) D
E) E

Identify the letter that indicates the visceral layer of the glomerular capsule.
A) A
B) B
C) C
D) D
E) E

Identify the letter that indicates blood vessels covered by podocytes.
A) A
B) B
C) C
D) D
E) E

Knot of capillaries that directs blood into the efferent arteriole.
A) arcuate arteries
B) cortical radiate arteries
C) glomerulus
D) afferent arterioles
E) peritubular capillaries

The medial concave cleft in which vessels, ureters, and nerves enter/leave the kidney.
A) cortex
B) hilum
C) renal corpuscle
D) renal capsule
E) sinus

A large fat-filled space within the kidney that also contains the renal pelvis, blood vessels,
and nerves.
A) sinus
B) convoluted tubules
C) renal corpuscle
D) renal pyramids
E) cortical columns

Cup-shaped tubes that enclose the papillae of the pyramids.
A) major calyx
B) minor calyx
C) renal sinus
D) renal pelvis
E) cortical columns

85% of nephrons are described by this term that relates to their location in the kidney.
A) sinusoidal
B) trabecular
C) medullary
D) cortical
E) extrinsic

Region of the distal tubule that monitors concentration of the filtrate.
A) vasa recta
B) collecting duct
C) macula densa
D) mesangial
E) extraglomerular

The descriptive term for the location of the kidneys relative to the abdominal cavity.
A) retroperitoneal
B) intraperitoneal
C) extraabdominal
D) supraperitoneal
E) subcapsular

Contraction of this muscle forces urine from the bladder.
A) cremaster
B) detrusor
C) diaphragm
D) vesicular
E) dartos

Ladderlike looping blood vessels within the medulla.
A) vasa vasorum
B) peritubular capillaries
C) cortical radiate
D) vasa recta
E) interlobular

Blood vessel that contains granular cells involved in blood pressure regulation.
A) afferent arteriole
B) efferent arteriole
C) segmental artery
D) macula densa
E) extraglomerular mesangial

Which of the following is not normally found in urine?
A) urea
B) glucose
C) uric acid
D) creatinine

If you looked closely at the tip of a renal papilla with a hand lens, the hundreds of little
openings you would see on its surface are
A) minor calyces.
B) renal sinuses.
C) openings of papillary ducts.
D) glomeruli.

Vessels and nerves enter and leave the kidney through the
A) fibrous capsule.
B) lateral convex surface.
C) inferior surface.
D) medial hilum.

The most superficial layer of the kidney is the
A) cortex.
B) medulla.
C) renal pyramids.
D) renal papilla.

How much of the fluid filtered by the kidney actually becomes urine?
A) 1%
B) 10%
C) 50%
D) 99%

Which of the following supportive tissues is most superficial?
A) fibrous capsule
B) pararenal fat
C) perirenal fat
D) renal fascia

Before it enters the ureter, urine collects in the
A) renal sinus.
B) renal pelvis.
C) renal cortex.
D) renal pyramids.

Infection of the renal pelvic and calyces is known as
A) nephritis.
B) cystitis.
C) hydronephritis.
D) pyelitis.

Which vessels lie within the renal columns?
A) arcuate arteries
B) cortical radiate arteries
C) interlobar arteries
D) segmental arteries

Which of the following is not part of the filtration membrane?
A) basement membrane
B) capillary endothelium
C) filtration slit diaphragm
D) granular cells

Which of the following processes does not participate in the production of urine in the
kidney?
A) filtration
B) secretion
C) evaporation
D) resorption

Which of the following is not found in the renal corpuscle?
A) the glomerulus
B) the nephron loop
C) glomerular capsule
D) podocytes

The only embryonic kidney that survives into adulthood is the
A) pronephros.
B) mesonephros.
C) metanephros.
D) paranephros.

The function of the collecting duct is to
A) contract its muscular walls to expel urine from the cortex.
B) determine the final volume and concentration of urine.
C) drain blood from the kidney and deliver it to the renal vein.
D) transport resorbed water back into the cardiovascular system.

The kidneys lie behind the ________ cavity.
A) abdominal
B) pelvic
C) thoracic
D) cranial

The name of the inferior of the three openings in the trigone of the bladder is the
A) ureteric orifice.
B) urachus opening.
C) internal urethral orifice.
D) detrusor.

Renin is produced in
A) the glomerulus.
B) the renal medulla.
C) the granular cells.
D) glomerular capsules.

The mucosal folds in the bladder (rugae)
A) act to increase the surface area for absorption.
B) thicken the bladder wall so that it does not burst.
C) are not present in life, only in cadavers.
D) have the same basic function as transitional epithelium—accommodating stretch as the
bladder fills.

Why are urinary tract infections more common in females than in males?
A) In males the urethra is made up of three regions, whereas in females it is made of only one.
B) In females the urethra is attached to the anterior vaginal wall by connective tissue.
C) In females the urethra is shorter than in males.
D) In males the urethra is shared by the both the reproductive and the urinary systems, whereas
in females it is part of the urinary system only.

Which of the following conditions is most often seen in elderly males with prostatic
hyperplasia?
A) urge incontinence
B) overflow incontinence
C) urinary retention
D) stress incontinence

Which of the following would not inhibit micturition?
A) stimulation of the somatic motor neurons to the external urethral sphincter
B) activation of the sympathetic pathways
C) relaxation of the internal urethal sphincter
D) relaxation of the detrusor muscles

Which segment of the nephron has a simple squamous epithelium?
A) ascending limb of the nephron loop
B) descending limb of the nephron loop
C) distal convoluted tubule
D) proximal convoluted tubule

An important difference between a cuboidal epithelial cell of the proximal versus the distal
convoluted tubules is that
A) the former only secretes, the latter only filters.
B) one lies in the renal cortex, the other in the medulla.
C) only one has a folded basolateral membrane containing enzymes for ion transport.
D) the proximal tubule cells have long microvilli that are fewer than or absent from the distal
tubule cells.

An important difference between the peritubular capillaries and the vasa recta in the kidney
is that
A) only the vasa recta are supplied by efferent arterioles.
B) the vasa recta drain into arterioles, whereas the peritubular capillaries drain into venules.
C) the vasa recta are involved in filtration, whereas the peritubular capillaries are involved in
resorption.
D) the vasa recta are in the medulla, whereas the peritubular capillaries are in the cortex.

From which embryonic tissue layer(s) does the kidney arise?
A) ectoderm
B) mesoderm
C) endoderm
D) all three layers

Which of the following is not usually associated with the formation of renal calculi?
A) increased intake of calcium
B) polyurea
C) dehydration
D) bacterial infection

The left renal vein ________ the right renal vein.
A) is shorter than
B) is the same length as
C) is longer than
D) carries less blood than

Which of the following statements about the urinary bladder is false?
A) In females, the bladder lies posterior to the uterus but anterior to the rectum.
B) The ureters attach to the bladder through oblique posterolateral orifices.
C) Two ureteral openings and the internal urethral orifice bound the trigone of the bladder.
D) When empty, the bladder lies inferior to the abdominal cavity.

Based on what you know about the location of the kidneys in the posterior abdominal wall,
the hilum of the kidney must be at the level of which vertebra?
A) T11 or T12
B) L1 or L2
C) L4
D) T8

Which of the following is found exclusively in the renal medulla?
A) nephron loop of juxtamedullary nephrons
B) cortical radiate arteries
C) peritubular capillaries
D) proximal convoluted tubules

The part of the nephron whose epithelial cells are most responsible for resorption and
secretion is the
A) glomerular capsule (podocytes).
B) proximal tubule.
C) thin segment.
D) distal tubule.

The layer of podocytes is the same as the
A) parietal layer.
B) glomerulus.
C) visceral layer of glomerular capsule.
D) capsular space.

Of the following, the only epithelial type that does not line the urethra is
A) simple squamous.
B) pseudostratified columnar.
C) stratified squamous.
D) stratified columnar.

Which of the following statements about the internal urethral sphincter is false?
A) It is a thickening of the detrusor muscle.
B) It is located superior to the prostatic urethra in males.
C) It is not consciously controlled.
D) It is surrounded by the urogential diaphragm.

Pyelography is
A) kinking of the ureter.
B) a type of X-ray procedure (radiology).
C) a way to cure kidney stones.
D) failure of the embryonic kidney to ascend.

Arteries that branch to form the afferent arterioles to the glomeruli are
A) segmental arteries.
B) arcuate arteries.
C) cortical radiate arteries.
D) interlobar arteries.

Which of the following structures is most numerous within a kidney?
A) cortical radiate arteries
B) minor calyces
C) renal corpuscles
D) renal papillae

The embryonic urogenital sinus
A) derives from the cloaca.
B) gives rise to the anus.
C) gives rise to the rectum.
D) gives rise to the ureters.

The ureters develop from
A) the cloaca.
B) the urogenital sinus.
C) pronephric nephrons.
D) a duct that branches from the mesonephric duct.

The external urethral sphincter is located
A) at the external urethral orifice.
B) at the junction of the bladder wall and urethra.
C) at the ureteral orifice.
D) at the urogenital diaphragm.

The condition in which the metanephros has failed to ascend is
A) horseshoe kidney.
B) polycystic renal disease.
C) hydronephrosis.
D) pelvic kidney.

During a dissection, Arnie saw the ureters entering the lateral corners of the bladder but
found the internal openings of the ureters in the trigone near the midline of the bladder. His
observation necessarily means that
A) the ureters run medially for some distance within the posterior bladder wall.
B) the ureters and urethra are really the same tube.
C) each ureter must have four distinct openings into the bladder.
D) this bladder had a congenital defect.

The parts of the nephron whose epithelial cells contain the most mitochondria are the
A) renal corpuscle and distal tubule.
B) proximal and distal tubules.
C) thin segment and glomerular capsule.
D) vasa recta and collecting tubules.

In the micturition reflex, the detrusor muscle is stimulated to contract by
A) sphincter neurons from the brain.
B) sympathetic fibers.
C) parasympathetic fibers.
D) visceral sensory fibers from the vagus.

In the juxtaglomerular apparatus, the macula densa belongs to the
A) terminal nephron loop.
B) glomerulus.
C) efferent arteriole.
D) visceral layer of the glomerular capsule (podocytes).

Another name for the neck of the bladder is the
A) superior surface.
B) anterior angle.
C) inferior angle.
D) trigone.

The longest of the three parts of the male urethra is the
A) prostatic.
B) membranous.
C) spongy urethra.
D) neck.

Which structure(s) is (are) most important for holding the kidney in place in the abdomen?
A) renal vessels
B) renal ligaments
C) renal fascia
D) the diaphragm, through its muscle tone

The micturition center is located in the
A) cerebellum.
B) detrusor muscle layer of the bladder wall.
C) pons of the brain stem.
D) sacral spinal cord.

Cortical nephrons are different from juxtamedullary nephrons in that
A) they are much less abundant.
B) they produce urine, whereas juxtamedullary nephrons do not.
C) their nephron loop is shorter, with a shorter thin segment.
D) they do not have a proximal convoluted tubule.

When Melinda was asked to identify a "mystery" slide on a histology test, she immediately
identified it as renal cortex because of the presence of scattered
A) renal corpuscles.
B) thin segments.
C) renal papillae.
D) vasa recta.

Which of the following regions of the nephron is most likely to be found in the renal
medulla?
A) glomerulus
B) proximal convoluted tubule
C) distal convoluted tubule
D) collecting duct

Urine passes through the
A) kidney hilum to the bladder to the ureter.
B) renal pelvis to the ureter to the bladder to the urethra.
C) glomerulus to the ureter to the nephron.
D) hilus to the urethra to the bladder.

An increase in the permeability of collecting tubule cells to water is due to
A) a decrease in the production of ADH.
B) an increase in the production of ADH.
C) a decrease in the concentration of solutes in the blood plasma.
D) the presence of a salty urine in the bladder.

The epithelium lining the urinary bladder that permits distension is
A) stratified squamous.
B) transitional.
C) simple squamous.
D) pseudostratified columnar.

Which gland sits atop each kidney?
A) pancreas
B) pituitary
C) adrenal
D) interlobar gland

The glomerular capsule and the glomerular capillaries together make up the renal corpuscle.

A) True

B) False

Urine flows from the kidney to the bladder by gravity and peristalsis.

A) True

B) False

The epithelial cells of the distal convoluted tubule have an abundance of absorptive microvilli.

A) True

B) False

The descending thin limb of the nephron loop consists of a simple squamous epithelium.

A) True

B) False

In females, the urinary bladder lies anterior to the vagina and uterus.

A) True

B) False

The location and length of the urethra are two factors that contribute to the high incidence of
urinary tract infections in women.

A) True

B) False

The urinary bladder, when empty, lies within both the abdominal and pelvic cavities.

A) True

B) False

A network of peritubular capillaries surrounds the convoluted tubules and nephron loop for
the purpose of filtration.

A) True

B) False

The internal urethral sphincter is composed of smooth muscle and is under involuntary
control.

A) True

B) False

The kidneys are located just below lumbar vertebrae L2 and L3.

A) True

B) False

The correct sequence of arterial blood flow is the renal artery to the segmental arteries to the
interlobar arteries.

A) True

B) False

Venous structures of the kidney mirror those of the arterial circuit, except for the absence of
segmental veins.

A) True

B) False

Urine drains from the kidney in the following sequence: from the collecting duct to the minor
calyx to the major calyx to the renal pelvis and then to the ureter.

A) True

B) False

The ureters enter the bladder obliquely at the anterolateral corners.

A) True

B) False

Cortical and juxtamedullary nephrons can be distinguished by the absence of a vasa recta in
the cortical nephrons.

A) True

B) False