Enlargement of a column of Bertin that extends into the renal pyramids is called what?

• A. Hypertrophied column of Bertin
• B. Dromedary hump
• C. Fetal lobulation
• D. Junctional parenchymal defect

Answer: (A)

Enlargement of the columns of Bertin into the medullary pyramids is a benign variant where cortical tissue thickens and extends between the renal pyramids. This is known as a hypertrophied column of Bertin. On ultrasound, you’ll see a band of cortex that courses deeper between the pyramids and maintains the same echogenicity as the cortex, helping distinguish it from a true mass. The other terms describe different renal appearances: a dromedary hump is a cortical bulge on the kidney’s lateral border, not an extension into the pyramids; fetal lobulation refers to grooves on the outer surface from incomplete fusion of renal lobes; a junctional parenchymal defect is a triangular area at the corticomedullary junction, a separate variant that does not involve thickening of the columns into the pyramids.