Rapid processing of kidney biopsies for electron microscopy

The widespread use of the kidney biopsy has contributed to the explosive expansion of clinical nephrology in the last 20 years [1–3]. This is now an established procedure in the investigation and management of patients with kidney disease and the only method of making an exact and morphological evaluation of diffuse renal disease during life [4]. Several forms of kidney disease in which the prognosis and response to therapy differ cannot be distinguished clinically [5, 6]. Their lesions may have an almost identical appearance on light microscopy [3, 6], although they are readily differentiated by electron microscopy. Light microscopy, therefore, is not an entirely reliable means of differentiating renal lesions [5, 7–9]