Renal cortex

Organs · Latin: Cortex renalis

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The renal cortex is the outer layer of the kidney, about 1 cm thick, under the fibrous capsule. It holds the glomeruli, knots of capillaries where blood pressure pushes water and small molecules into the start of each nephron, and the twisting tubules that take most of that fluid straight back into the blood. Its tissue reaches down between the pyramids as the renal columns.