Nephrology Health Dictionary

The medical speciality concerned with the normal functioning of the kidneys and with the causes, diagnosis, and treatment of kidney disease.

Methods of investigating the kidneys include kidney biopsy, kidney function tests, and kidney imaging techniques such as ultrasound scanning and intravenous urography. Treatment of kidney disorders may involve drugs and surgery and, in advanced cases, dialysis or a kidney transplant.

The branch of medicine concerned with the study and management of kidney disease. A specialist in these diseases is called a nephrologist.

n. the branch of medicine concerned with the study, investigation, and management of diseases of the kidney. See also urology. —nephrologist n.