Long-Term Follow-up after Partial Removal of a Solitary Kidney

THE removal of normal renal tissue in animals leads to focal sclerosis in the glomeruli of the remaining kidney and to progressive renal failure, 1 , 2 an injury that may be due to intraglomerular hypertension and chronic glomerular hyperfiltration. 3 There is controversy about the clinical relevance of these observations. Long-term follow-up studies after nephrectomy performed because of unilateral renal disease or for kidney donation have failed to demonstrate progressive deterioration in renal function. 4 – 10 However, the glomerulopathy in animals occurred after the removal of more than three fourths of all renal tissue. Therefore, a more appropriate model in humans may be provided by . . .