U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it's official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you're on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Skip to Main Navigation
Skip to Page Content
Skip to Atlas Navigation

Kidney, Papilla - Necrosis

Image of papilla necrosis in the kidney from a male F344/N rat in a chronic study
Kidney, Papilla - Necrosis in a male F344/N rat from a chronic study. Early necrosis of the papilla shows loss of cellular detail and staining affinity.
Figure 1 of 4
Image of papilla necrosis in the kidney from a male F344/N rat in a subchronic study
Kidney, Papilla - Necrosis in a male F344/N rat from a subchronic study. A portion of the necrotic renal papilla is sloughed off into the renal pelvis.
Figure 2 of 4
Image of papilla necrosis in the kidney from a female B6C3F1 mouse in a chronic study
Kidney, Papilla - Necrosis in a female B6C3F1 mouse from a chronic study. There is a large area of papillary necrosis with a prominent peripheral zone of inflammation.
Figure 3 of 4
Image of papilla necrosis in the kidney from a male B6C3F1 mouse in a chronic study
Kidney, Papilla - Necrosis in a male B6C3F1 mouse from a chronic study (higher magnification of Figure 3). Acute necrosis and inflammatory infiltrate are present.
Figure 4 of 4
next arrow
View all images

comment:

Renal papillary necrosis is a specific entity involving the tip of the renal papilla. Early stages involve loss of cellular definition and loss of staining affinity in the area of the papillary tip ( Figure 1image opens in a pop-up window ). More severe cases may involve necrosis of the entire renal papilla ( Figure 2image opens in a pop-up window ). Depending on the chronicity of the lesion, urothelial hyperplasia, hemorrhage, edema, inflammation, and mineralization may be evident. Often the necrotic papilla will slough off into the renal pelvis and result in obstruction ( Figure 3image opens in a pop-up window ). Re-epithelialization may be observed in sloughed areas. Inflammation is commonly observed adjacent to necrotic areas, and pyelonephritis may also be associated with papillary necrosis ( Figure 4image opens in a pop-up window ). Papillary necrosis is more commonly reported with chemical administration than from other causes. Spontaneous cases are uncommon in the rat and mouse.

recommendation:

Necrosis of the renal papilla should be diagnosed and given a severity grade. The study pathologist should use his or her judgment in deciding whether or not secondary lesions, such as inflammation, associated with papillary necrosis are prominent enough to warrant a separate diagnosis.

related links:

Kidney - Infarct
Kidney - Inflammation

references:

Brix AE. 2002. Renal papillary necrosis. Toxicol Pathol 30:672-674.
Abstract: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12512867

Frazier KS, Seely JC, Hard GC, Betton G, Burnett R, Nakatsuji S, Nishikawa A, Durchfeld-Meyer B, Bube A. 2012. Proliferative and non-proliferative lesions in the rat and mouse urinary system. Toxicol Pathol 40:14S-86S.
Abstract: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22637735

Greaves P. 2012. Histopathology of Preclinical Toxicity Studies, 4th ed. Elsevier, Amsterdam, 574-576.
Abstract: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/book/9780444538567

Back to top

Web page last updated on: October 28, 2014