Densitometric density of urinary stones as a predictive factor demonstrating their efficiency of disintegration in treatment of urolithiasis

Abstract

Urolithiasis is one of the most common urological diseases, occurring in at least 3% of the human population and 34.2% of the Russian population. Data from the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation show that in the past 4 years, the incidence of urolithiasis has increased from 405.2 to 460.3 patients per 100,000 population. The purpose of this study was to assess the significance of determining the density of urinary stones via computed tomography, as well as the chemical composition of urinary stones, in order to choose an optimal treatment strategy for patients with urolithiasis. The results of treatment of 108 patients with stones of different localization and sizes were investigated. The patients were subjected to laboratory examination to determine the urinary salt environment; moreover, the levels of electrolytes were examined in blood samples from the patients, and computed tomography densitometry was performed to determine the density of the detected stones. The qualitative chemical compositions of urinary stones in patients with urolithiasis were determined. The density of urinary stones was evaluated by computed tomography densitometry in these patients. The relationship was determined between the chemical compositions of stones and their corresponding densitometric densities. The densitometric density of urinary stones, as determined by computed tomography, can serve as a predictor of the effectiveness of stone disintegration, because it allows selection of the best method to destroy stones for treatment of urolithiasis.