Diseases Treatment

Techniques for studying the functions of the kidney and visualizing the structures and processes of the urinary tract have been highly developed in recent years. Very exact knowledge of urological conditions can be obtained with the assistance of highly refined instruments, chemical analyses, x-ray visualization, and tests of function.
Urinalysis

Diagnosis of disease by inspection of the urine is an ancient and honorable practice, pursued centuries ago by Babylonian magi and Chinese, Hindu, Greek and Roman physicians of the time. In medieval days, the flask of urine was held in high esteem by patients and by practitioners who made diagnoses merely by looking at the portentous fluid.

Today, a properly analyzed urine specimen can tell many precise tales about conditions of the body. A complete urinalysis is not always necessary; it depends on what the doctor wants to learn about a particular patient’s condition. The mere volume of urine passed in 24 hours may, for instance, be significant. Odor and color are gross qualities, and frightening color does not always have frightening significance, as when reddish urine is traced to eating too many beets. Tests for sugar, albumin, specific gravity and acid-alkaline reaction are more or less routine, but more sophisticated tests may be ordered to determine the presence of specific kinds of inorganic crystals, bile, pus, blood cells, bacteria, proteins and other elements. Cultures may be necessary to identify the particular germs responsible for a urinary tract infection, so that effective anti microbial drugs may be used against them. Urine tests alone of course do not tell the whole story about a patient’s condition.
Cystoscopy

From the catheter, the beginning of instrumentation of the urinary tract, it was a tremendous leap to the modern cystoscope. This remarkable instrument consists essentially of a hollow tube with a tiny electric light bulb at its tip, which can be passed into the bladder. Various systems of viewing lenses are then introduced. Thus the interior of the bladder, the tubes leading into it, and the urethra can be inspected visually.

Modern cystoscopes embodying refined improvements are exceedingly versatile instruments. Forms of the cystoscope can be used as operating instruments for destruction of tumors and removal of stones and foreign bodies from the bladder. Recent improvements in the light systems have made it possible to see in the ureter and kidney pelvis, and it is likely that excellent instruments for inspecting the urine-collecting chambers of the kidney’s interior will be developed.
X Rays

Developments in x-ray apparatus have tremendously improved the study of the urinary tract and kidney function. Plain films can now be made which show the outlines of urinary tract structures. Other details can be visualized by injecting radio-opaque substances and making an x-ray film an excretory pyelogram. This enables the entire urinary tract to be visualized and shows any distortions or disturbances associated with disease processes. It is also possible to introduce such substances into particular regions through cystoscopes and catheters. Recent developments in cinefluorography make it possible to take motion pictures of the urinary tract in action, following the introduction of opaque media.

Since the main function of the kidney is to clear certain substances -from the blood, its ability to do so is a measure of kidney function. Highly specialized studies of the chemical constituents of the blood and ability of the kidneys to clear dyes or other substances give important information about how well the organs are doing their job.