24-hour urinary constituents in stone formers: a study from Kashmir

Background: Urolithiasis is a common disorder. Studies have shown that metabolic causes of urolithiasis include hypercalciuria, hypocitraturia, high or low pH of urine, hyperuricosuria, hyperoxaluria and hypomagnesuria. We intended to conduct this study with the aim to provide historical data regarding the 24-hour urinary analysis in this part of India with a distinct and different geographical and cultural background. Methods: A total of 186 patients having urinary stone disease attending the departments of Nephrology and Urology in Sher-I- Kashmir institute of medical sciences were included. 26 healthy members of hospital staff were taken as controls. Demographic and clinico-pathological characteristics of each patient were recorded in a questionnaire. Urine was collected for 24-hours from 186 patients and 26 controls. 10ml sample of this urine collection was stored at 20c0 before processing for urinary parameters. Results: The mean concentration of calcium salts, Magnesium, Oxalate and Uric acid in the 24-hour urinary analysis of urolithiasis patients is higher than that of the normal healthy controls and the relation was statistically significant. On comparing the 24-hour urinary constituents among urolithiasis patients and health controls, the concentration of phosphate was almost equal in both cases and controls while the concentration of oxalate was much higher in cases than controls. Conclusions: In present study hypercalciuria is main cause of renal calculi along with hypocitraturia, hypomagnesuria and hyperphosphaturia in our valley. Measurement of 24-hour urine constituents is still gold standard for evaluation of stone formers.