Introduction

This book is meant to help pathologists to give a clinically useful interpretation of renal biopsy specimens, and to help others to understand pathologists’ reports on these specimens. Clinically, the term renal function refers to the excretory function of the kidney. Abnormalities of the kidney may give impairment of renal excretory functionRenal excretory function, or leak of blood or proteins into the urine. The two main factors that determine the clinical outcome are the disease in a kidney, and the amount of chronic damageTransplantation, kidneychronic damage at diagnosis.