[Urinary stones in Tunisian children, based on series of 187 cases]

The aim of this study is to define epidemiologic and structural particularities of urinary stones in Tunisian children.Between 1995 to 2007, 187 stones of Tunisian children were studied. Structural analysis was performed by infrared spectrophotometry.We analyzed 187 stones from 122 boys and 65 girls. Their age ranged from two months to 18 years. Our study shows a male predominance with a sex ratio of 1,88. Stones were renal in 64.8%, ureteral in 20.6% and 14.6% were vesical. Whewellite was the main component (49,2% of stones) with a female predominance. Among phosphatic stones, carbapatite was in the lead (10.7%) followed by struvite (7%), which predominate in male.The epidemiological profile of urinary stones in children in Tunisia is situated between that observed in developed countries and that observed in developing countries.