abnormal podocyte foot process morphology podocyte foot process effacement MP:0008140 MPheno.ontology a podocyte reaction to injury or damage characterized by flattening of foot processes due to gradual simplification of the interdigitating foot process; the whole podocyte looks flat due to retraction, widening, and shortening of the processes of each podocyte while the frequency of filtration slits is reduced, giving the appearance of a continuous cytoplasmic sheet covering the glomerular basement membrane