BACKGROUND To investigate functional aspects of silent ureteral stones with special focus on obstruction and its relationship to renal anatomy. The present study is the first investigation of renal excretory function in patients with silent ureteral stones. METHODS Patients with primarily asymptomatic ureteral stones underwent a mercapto-acetyltriglycine (MAG-3) renal scintigraphy prior to tr...

Research in the field of ureteral physiology and pharmacology has traditionally been directed toward relaxation of ureteral spasm as a mechanism of analgesia during painful ureteral obstruction, most often stone-induced episodes. However, interest in this field has expanded greatly in recent years with the expanded use of alpha-blocker therapy for inducing stone passage, a usage now termed "med...

INTRODUCTION This work evaluates the results of ureteroscopic treatment of impacted ureteral stones with a pneumatic lithotripter. MATERIALS AND METHODS From March 1997 to May 2002, 42 patients with impacted ureteral stones were treated by retrograde ureteroscopic pneumatic lithotripsy. Twenty-eight patients were female and 14 were male. The stone size ranged from 5 to 20 mm. The ureteral sit...

PURPOSE To report the results of bilateral same-session ureteroscopy in patients with bilateral pathologies in urinary system. MATERIALS AND METHODS From among nearly 3000 patients who had undergone diagnostic or therapeutic ureteroscopy in our center, 23 (13 females and 10 males) were treated with bilateral same-session ureteroscopy. Pathologies included bilateral ureteral stone in 19, hemat...

Ureteral duplication is a common congenital anomaly of the urinary system observed in 0.8% of autopsy series [1]. However, bifid ureter with a blind branch is a rare condition. It is three times more prevalent in women than men and is observed twice as often on the right side as on the left side [2]. It does not generally give any clinical symptoms. However, in the literature, symptomatic cases...

BACKGROUND Laser lithotripsy is an established endourological modality. Ho:YAG laser have broadened the indications for ureteroscopic stone managements to include larger stone sizes throughout the whole upper urinary tract. Aim of current work is to assess efficacy and safety of Ho:YAG laser lithotripsy during retrograde ureteroscopic management of ureteral calculi in different locations. MET...

We treated 5 cases of severe hydronephrosis with balloon dilation. Those hydronephrosis were due to the ureteral stricture with small stone fragments after ESWL (Lithostar). In each case, in situ ESWL had been done on a long-lodged ureteric stone with severe hydronephrosis. And even after the disintegration of stone with ESWL, hydronephrosis remained due to ureteral stricture with small stone f...

INTRODUCTION Supporting an "ultrasound-first" approach to evaluating renal colic in the emergency department (ED) remains important for improving patient care and decreasing healthcare costs. Our primary objective was to compare emergency physician (EP) ultrasound to computed tomography (CT) detection of hydronephrosis severity in patients with suspected renal colic. We calculated test characte...

The goal of treating renal and ureteral calculi is to achieve complete stone clearance with minimal morbidity. The treatment depends on various factors, including stone size, composition and location, clinical “patient factors”, availability of the equipment and the surgeon’s capability. Recent prospective trials suggest that ureteroscopy provides certain advantages over shock wave therapy (SWL...

To the Editor: Spontaneous ureteral rupture is rare, and urolithiasis is the most common cause.[1,2] The underlying mechanism may be the pressure around the ureteral wall due to stone impaction or a tear during the stone passage. Smaller distal stones exert higher intraureteral pressures than do larger proximal stones because of the greater length of obstructed ureter and the smaller diameter o...