Urolithiasis is a common condition, with a prevalence of ∼10% and a male/female ratio above 1 according to large national series.
Various types of urinary stones have been described upon their mineral content and/or their morphology. Hence, a combined morpho-constitutional (M-C) classification has been proposed. In order to detail the prevalence of urolithiasis in general and of each M-C type in particular upon age and gender in Belgium, we retrospectively studied the database of a reference center for urolithiasis analysis. Between 2010 and 2013, 2195 stones were characterized. We excluded 45 non-biological stones and 281 stones, which originated from outside the study zone. Among 1869 stones, 1293 (69.2%) affected men. Prevalence peak of urolithiasis was observed between 50-60 years of age in both genders. The M-C analysis was available for 1854 stones (99.2%): multiple morphological types were concomitantly identified in 49.3%. In the whole population, the main mineral constituent was whewellite (54.4%), mainly organized as type Ia (94%). Weddellite was found in 19.8%, with an equal distribution between types IIa and IIb. Uric acid was the 3rd most frequent constituent in man, with a similar distribution between IIIa and IIIb. Phosphate was uncommon in man (8.2%), but frequent in woman (26.6%) with a type IVa1 organization. Prevalence of M-C types changes with aging, i.e. decrease of weddellite and increase of whewellite and uric acid in both genders. This retrospective analysis of a single-center database of urinary stones helps characterize the M-C epidemiology of urolithiasis in Belgium.
Written by:
Castiglione V, Jouret F, Bruyère O, Dubois B, Thomas A, Waltregny D, Bekaert AC, Cavalier E, Gadisseur R. Are you the author?
Département de biologie clinique, service de chimie clinique, centre hospitalier universitaire de Liège (ULg CHU), Liège, Belgique; Département de médecine interne, service de néphrologie, ULg CHU, Liège, Belgique; Unité de soutien méthodologique en épidémiologie et en biostatistiques, service de santé publique, épidémiologie et économie de la santé, université de Liège, Liège, Belgique; Département de chirurgie, service d'urologie, ULg CHU, Liège, Belgique.
Reference: Nephrol Ther. 2014 Dec 2. pii: S1769-7255(14)00632-4.
doi: 10.1016/j.nephro.2014.08.003
PubMed Abstract
PMID: 25488796
Article in French.