ANATOMICAL STUDIES ON THE RENAL BLOOD VESSELS OF DONKEY (Equus asinus)

A total of thirty five kidneys from adult donkeys of both sexes were provided for this study. Distribution of the renal vessels and their mutual relations were studied by corrosion casts, dissection and angiographs. The study revealed that the right renal artery divides into caudal, dorsal and ventral arteries of second order, while th left renal artery into cranial, dorsal and ventral arteries of second order. Each of these arteries supplies its own independant segment. Concequently, the right kidney can be divided into caudal, dorsal and ventral segments, while the left kidney into cranial, dorsal and ventral segments. In the right kidney, the caudal segment comprises the caudal pole, while the ventral segment forms the mid - ventral part of the organ. The remaining part of the kidney belongs to the dersal segment. In the left kidney, the cranial segment occupies only the cranial third of the ventral half, while its remaining caudal two thirds form the ventral segment. The dorsal segment comprises the complete dorsal half of the left kidney. The study provided also that the capsular veins are not present in donkey, while the stellate veins are present and situated caudal to the hilus. The renal veins inside the kidney follow the arterial pattern, however, they anastomose freely with each other. Therefore, they do not have segmental organization like the arteries.