Courtesy of Intermountain Medical Imaging, Boise, Idaho.

Figure 1 shows a picture of a computed tomography (CT) scan of two normal kidneys, looking from the top of the head down. A special dye (contrast material) was used for this scan. Figure 2 shows a picture from a different CT scan of two kidneys that are abnormal. These kidneys are small and misshapen from scarring due to disease.