Automated Fourier transform infrared analysis of urinary stones: technical aspects and example of procedures applied to carbapatite/weddellite mixtures.

New software (ScanLith) was developed to provide an automated procedure for identifying and quantifying crystalline species in urinary calculi. The first step was to strictly define operative conditions of sample preparation because they have a significant influence on the stability of various crystalline phases. Second, we determined the quantification coefficients of a polynomial curve required to develop the automated procedure.

[Urinary stones and urinary tract abnormalities. Is the stone composition independent of the anatomical abnormality?].

Introduction: More than ten per cent of stones are associated with a urinary tract abnormality. To verify whether the malformation influences stone composition, we studied the composition of stones observed in fifteen urological abnormalities.

Material And Method: This study is based on 1,461 stones associated with a clearly defined malformation analysed by infrared spectroscopy plus 402 bladder stones in men with benign prostatic hyperplasia.

Cystine crystal volume determination: a useful tool in the management of cystinuric patients.

We prospectively determined cystine crystal volume (Vcys) in urine specimens from all consecutive patients with cystine urolithiasis followed at our institution over the past decade, in order to assess its predictive value as to the risk of recurrent cystine stone formation. A total of 57 patients (29 males, 28 females) with homozygous cystinuria entered in the study between January 1990 and December 2000, including 15 children aged less than 15 years and 42 patients aged 15 years or more. The clinical and radiological course was followed until December 2001, for a total of 243 patient-years of follow-up.