Publication:

Spectrum of pediatric urinary stone composition in North Western India: analysis at tertiary care center

Background Pediatric urolithiasis results in significant morbidity in later life. Incidence as well as site and chemical composition of calculi varies according to the changes in socio-economic conditions over time and the subsequent changes in dietary habits leading to a marked variation in the spectrum of urinary stone composition. To evaluate the spectrum of urinary stone composition in pediatric population from North-western India.

Methods This was a prospective observational study conducted between October 2013 and February 2019 which included pediatric patients with urolithiasis. Demographic and epidemiological characteristics including age, sex, geography, religion, socio-economic status, dietary habits were recorded. The location and sizes of stones were documented. The data was collected, analyzed and presented using summary statistics.

Results A total of 163 patients with urolithiasis were enrolled, of which 86 (53%) aged between 6 and 10 years, 49 (30%) aged between 11 and 14 years and 28 (17%) were aged between 0 and 5 years. The majority of patients were male (n=134; 82.21%). The most common location of the stone was urinary bladder (n=106; 65.03%) followed by kidney (n=33; 20.25%), urethra (n=16; 9.82%) and ureter (n=8; 4.91%). The upper tract (kidney and ureter) to the lower tract (bladder and urethra) stone ratio was 1:4. Stones with mixed composition were more than pure stones (73.62% versus 26.38%). The most common composition was the mixed stone of calcium oxalate, calcium phosphate and uric acid (n=36; 22.09%) followed by mixed stone of calcium oxalate monohydrate and dihydrate with uric acid (n=29; 17.79%), calcium oxalate and uric acid (n=25, 15.34%), calcium oxalate and calcium phosphate (n=20; 12.27%). Calcium oxalate was present in 80% of the stones, followed by uric acid in 7%, struvite in 6%, cystine in 3% and calcium phosphate in 2%.

Conclusions These results suggest that the prevalence of mixed stones with calcium oxalate as the predominant chemical component in the urinary stones of pediatric patients studied.