Assessment of Frequency and Composition of Renal Stones in a Reference Laboratory of Pakistan

Objective: To determine frequency and chemical composition of renal stones in Northern Pakistan using FTIR Spectroscopy. Study Design: Cross-sectional study Place and Duration of Study: Department of Chemical Pathology and Endocrinology, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Rawalpindi Pakistan, from Jan 2017 to Jul 2020. Methodology: One thousand and twenty-nine stones were analysed in 3 years at AFIP of patients aged from 1 to 98 years. They were analysed by Automatic FT-IR type IRAffinity-1. The results were verified by manual analysis of spectrograms and then confirmed by standard peaks feed on NICODOM LIBRARY. Results: Calcium oxalate stones were the most frequent (1065,80.1%), followed by uric acid stones (179,13.5%), mixed stones (44,3.3%), calcium appetite (31,2.3%), struvite (6,0.5%), hydroxy appetite (1,0.1%) and cysteine stones (3,0.2%). Male predominance was noted in patients with renal stones (1057,79.5%). The majority of the patients were from the age group 21 –40 years (47.5%) Conclusion: Calcium oxalate stones are most commonly followed by uric acid stones in patients of northern Pakistan. The frequency of renal stones is high in male patients.