Objective: To conduct a complex examination of female patients with calcium oxalate urolithiasis to detect metabolic disorders, leading to stone formation.
Materials and methods: The study was carried out using complex physical and chemical methods, including quantitative X-ray phase analysis of urinary stones, pH measurement, volumetry, urine and blood spectrophotometry.
Results: Quantitative mineralogical composition of stones, daily urine pH profile, daily urinary excretion of ions of calcium, magnesium, oxalate, phosphate, citrate and uric acid were determined in 20 female patients with calcium oxalate stones.
Discussion: We have shown that most of the stones comprised calcium oxalate monohydrate or mixtures of calcium oxalate dihydrate and hydroxyapatite. Among the identified abnormalities, the most frequent were hypocitraturia and hypercalciuria - 90 and 45%, respectively. Our findings revealed that the daily secretion of citrate and oxalate in patients older than 50 years was significantly lower than in younger patients.
Summary and conclusion: In conclusion, daily urinary citrate excretion should be measured in female patients with calcium oxalate stones. This is necessary both to determine the causes of stone formation, and to monitor the effectiveness of citrate therapy.
Keywords: calcium oxalate urolithiasis; diagnosis of metabolic disorders; quantitative X-ray analysis of stones.