Definition of Page kidney

Page kidney: Chronic longstanding compression of the kidney resulting in hypertension.

The kidney is compressed, most often, by a post-traumatic subcapsular hematoma (a collection of blood beneath the capsule surrounding the kidney) or, less often, by a cyst or tumor pressing on the renal parenchyma (substance of the kidney). The compression decreases blood flow to the kidney which triggers the excess secretion of the hormone renin and this, in turn, produces the hypertension. which may take months or years to develop.

Named after Dr. Irvine H. Page (1901-89) who first demonstrated in 1939 that wrapping cellophane tightly around animal kidneys can cause hypertension.