POSITION AND SIZE OF THE KIDNEYS AMONG 
FILIPINOS 1 
By Juan C. Nanagas 
Of the Department of Anatomy, College of Medicine and Surgery, 
University of the Philippines 
THREE TEXT FIGURES 
This preliminary report on the study of the position and the 
size of the kidneys among Filipinos is based upon measurements 
of forty-eight cases from the dissection laboratory of the depart- 
ment of anatomy, of which twenty -four were males and twenty- 
four females. 
I am considering in this paper only the position and the meas- 
urements of the organ. The incompleteness of the work is 
principally due to the limitations attendant upon the dissection 
of cadavers and to the lack of facilities for studying the other 
renal conditions in fresh cadavers. 
POSITION OF THE KIDNEYS 
Some textbooks in anatomy and surgery would lead one to 
believe that the kidneys are invariably placed in a fixed position. 
This so-called “normal position,” however, is in reality an in- 
definite condition. Its determination is beset with serious dif- 
ficulties, for many are the factors which influence the variability 
of its location. Among the principal factors of influence we 
may mention : 
Congenital lax condition or absence of renal fascia or perito- 
neal support (perinephric and paranephric fat) . 
Ptoses of neighboring viscerse, or any abnormal position of the 
surrounding organs. 
Pregnancy, intra-abdominal tumors, accumulations of fluid or 
their disappearance, thereby producing laxity and weakness of 
the abdominal wall. 
Atonicity of the posterior muscles of the abdomen, especially 
of those concerned with the formation of the renal fossa, occur- 
ring either locally or as part of the general weakness of the body 
musculature. 
1 Read before the Manila Medical Society, October 4, 1920. 
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