Renal Stone Surgery: Review of 423 Stone Analyses in Southern Iran Letter to the Editor

Nephrolithiasis is a common urinary problem with a worldwide estimated prevalence rate of 4–20 % and a 5-year recurrence rate of 50%. It accounts for significant expense and morbidity. Recurrent stone dis-ease is a major cause of end-stage renal disease, which may eventually lead to renal transplantation. The prevalence rate of stone disease, in the Middle East region and in Iran, is estimated between 1-20% and 5-7%, respectively.1,2 There are several metabolic disturbances leading to renal stone formation, including hypercalciuria, hyperoxaluria, hyperuricosuria, hypocitraturia, and hypomagnesuria, which also have a definite role in stone composition. Although these metabolic disturbances are responsible for most nephrolithiasis cases, renal stone formation may occur in the absence of any metabolic disturbance. Previous evidence from our region (southern Iran) suggests that low 24-hour urine volume, hypercalciuria, and hyperuricosuria are the most common metabolic abnormalities associated with nephrolithiasis.3 As renal stones are the only gross evidence of these disorders, their composition can be used for proposing the pathogenesis leading to stone formation and can provide crucial information for the management of the patients. It has been recommended that the analysis of stone composition should be considered as an integral part of evaluation in those with urinary calculi. This approach would be specifically helpful in determining the cause of stone formation and for planning the prevention strategies.4 To the best of ou