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Objectives: To assess the largest stone composition data available and to present the variations in the stone composition according to gender and different climatic environments in Turkey., Methodology: Data for a total of 24 768 urinary stone patients from the Turkish Mineral Research and Exploration Institute were evaluated. X-ray diffraction crystallography was used for analysis and the Köppen-Trewartha classification was used to assess the climatic features of the cities. After the assessment, the cities were divided into two groups-those with a continental climate (Dc) were defined as inland areas and the others (Non-Dc) were defined as coastal areas., Results: The male-to-female ratio was 2.2:1. Amongst the patients, 53.7% had pure stones, while 46.3% had mixed-type stones. The most common type of stone was calcium oxalate in both pure and mixed stone groups. Given the climate patterns, the stone ratio between regions with a Dc climate and a Non-Dc climate was approximately 2:3. Cystine and uric acid stones were observed more frequently in inland regions, while calcium oxalate, whewellite, and struvite stones were observed more frequently in coastal areas (P = .005, P < .001, P < .001, P = .002, P = .002, respectively). Calcium oxalate stones were found at a higher rate in men, while cysteine, struvite, and calcium phosphate stones were more common in women (P < .001, P = .003, P < .001, P < .001, respectively)., Conclusion: This study provides the most comprehensive data on the stone disease in Turkey. Considering the distribution of stone disease in Turkey, the frequency of analysed stones had parallels with the temperature averages and climate features, presenting crescent-like distribution., (© 2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Objective: To present a nation-wide analysis of the workload of urology departments in Turkey week-by-week during Covid-19 pandemic., Methodology: The centres participating in the study were divided into three groups as tertiary referral centres, state hospitals and private practice hospitals. The number of outpatients, inpatients, daily interventions and urological surgeries were recorded prospectively between 9-March-2020 and 31-May-2020. All these variables were recorded for the same time interval of 2019 as well. The weekly change of the workload of urology during pandemic period was evaluated, also the workload of urology and the distributions of certain urological surgeries were compared between the pandemic period and the same time interval of the year 2019., Results: A total of 51 centres participated in the study. The number of outpatients, inpatients, urological surgeries and daily interventions were found to be dramatically decreased by the 3rd week of pandemics in state hospitals and tertiary referral centres; however, the daily urological practice were similar in private practice hospitals throughout the pandemic period. When the workload of urology in pandemic period and the same time interval of the year 2019 were compared, a huge decrease was observed in all variables during pandemic period. However, temporary measures like ureteral stenting, nephrostomy placement and percutaneous cystostomy have been found to increase during Covid-19 pandemic compared with normal life., Conclusions: Covid-19 pandemic significantly affected the routine daily urological practice likewise other subspecialties and priority was given to emergent and non-deferrable surgeries by urologists in concordance with published clinical guidelines., (© 2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)