The assessment of kidney biopsies is mainly confined to specialized centres. However, sometimes a kidney biopsy is submitted to a general pathologist, and in addition peritumorous renal parenchyma in tumour nephrectomies can have concomitant non-neoplastic renal disease. Here we present a survey of inflammatory and immunologic changes in all renal compartments, which may in part indicate the need of prompt therapeutic intervention such as in vasculitis, glomerulonephritis and interstitial nephritis. It is important to take into account that renal involvement of vasculitis is mainly centred in glomeruli and only to a much lesser extent in arteries, and that the frequently observed interstitial inflammation very often is an epiphenomenon of another primary kidney disease and not an independent disease process. Typical renal patterns of injury are emphasised.