RISING TEMPERATURES could raise the prevalence of kidney stones, especially in the so-called "kidney stone belt" of the Deep South, University of Texas researchers predict.

Percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) improves the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) in patients with stage 5 CKD, but unexpected deterioration in renal function could occur in patients with earlier CKD stages, investigators in Turkey report.

Metabolic syndrome may increase the risk of kidney stones, data suggest. The finding comes from a study of 18,825 men and women aged 20 years and older who participated in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III).

ORLANDO, Fla.—Patients with metabolic disorders are more likely to develop uric acid stones than other types, and arteriosclerotic diseases and hyperuricemia strongly predict the presence of these stones, researchers reported here at the American Urological Association annual meeting.

Metabolic syndrome may increase the risk of kidney stones, data suggest.

COLONIZATION with Oxalobacter formigenes may reduce the risk of calcium oxalate kidney stones, a study suggests.

IN 2007, an international panel convened by the American Urological Association (AUA) and the European Association of Urology (EAU) updated the AUA ureteral stone guidelines. Most notably, the new guidelines reflect a pragmatic addition to the urologist's armamentarium: medical expulsive therapy (MET). MET is defined as the use of pharmaceutical agents to improve urinary stone passage rates and the time to stone passage in select individuals.

USE OF shockwave lithotripsy (SWL) for proximal ureteral stones can be expanded to stones up to 15 mm in diameter with acceptable success rates, researchers in Iran conclude.

NEW FINDINGS challenge a prevailing belief that higher urine uric acid excretion increases the risk for calcium oxalate stone formation, according to researchers.

SAN FRANCISCO—By drinking more water, especially during the night, calcium stone formers may reduce their stone risk, according to a study presented here at Renal Week 2007.