Compensatory growth in response to injury is a striking characteristic of both the liver and kidney. These vital organs, which together account for over half of the cardiac output, are so essential to life that they have evolved remarkable regeneration processes surpassed only by muscle and skin.
This new book describes in explicit detail the complex morphologic and biochemical changes which occur in both the liver and kidney in response to loss of tissue mass. The direct and concise presentation provides the clinician with a clear understanding of the mechanisms, similarities, and differences in the response of these two organs. Thus the rapid hyperplasia which occurs within the liver is sharply contrasted to the slower hypertrophy of existing nephrons, accounting for most of the increase in renal mass.
At the same time, descriptions of complicated processes such as DNA synthesis and replication, or changes in the cellular ultrastructure provide the