Metastases are the most frequent malignant tumors of the kidney, but these lesions are of late onset in neoplastic disease. The 19 cases reported here were all investigated with various imaging techniques (CT 12 cases, ultrasonography 12 cases, urography 8 cases, angiography 2 cases, MRI 1 case). The most common primary malignancies were lung cancer, melanoma and cancer of the contralateral kidney. In this series, 8 of the lesions were solitary, and 9 were unilateral. Tumor vascularity was evaluated in 15 cases: 14 of these lesions were hypovascular. The differential diagnosis includes small cysts, lymphoma, bilateral renal cancer, multiple small abscesses and multiple small infarcts.