Predictive Factors of the Outcome of Extracorporeal Shockwave Lithotripsy for Ureteral Stones

Abstract

PurposeExtracorporeal Shock Wave Lithotripsy (ESWL) has shown successful outcomes for ureteral stones. We investigated predictive factors for failure of ESWL for treating ureteral stones.Materials and MethodsA total of 153 patients who underwent ESWL between July 2006 and July 2009 for ureteral stones diagnosed by non-enhanced spiral computed tomography were divided into two groups: (group A, stone size ≤10 mm; and group B, stone size >10 mm). The failure was defined as remnant stones >4 mm. We assessed age, sex, body mass index, stone size, laterality, location, skin-to-stone distance (SSD), Hounsfield unit, and the presence of secondary signs (hydronephrosis, renal enlargement, perinephric fat stranding, and tissue rim sign). We analyzed predictive factors by using logistic regression in each group.ResultsThe success rates were 90.2% and 68.6% in group A and B, respectively. In the univariate analysis of each group, stone size, SSD, and all secondary signs showed statistically significant differences in terms of the outcome of ESWL (p<0.05). In the multivariate logistic regression, stone size (odds ratio [OR], 50.005; 95% confidence interval [CI], 6.207 to 402.852) was an independent predictive factor in group A. The presence of perinephric fat standing (OR, 77.634; 95% CI, 1.349 to 446.558) and stone size (OR, 19.718; 95% CI, 1.600 to 243.005) were independent predictive factors in group B.ConclusionsStone size is an independent predictive factor influencing failure of ESWL for treating ureteral stones. In larger ureteral stones (>10 mm), the presence of perinephric fat stranding is also an independent predictive factor.