Mineral composition of renal stones from the Sudan.

Urolithiasis is a very frequent finding in the Sudan, but stone analysis is not routinely performed in this country. It would, however, give important evidence for the metabolic basis of stone formation. We therefore set out to analyze urinary stones in 80 Sudanese patients (45 male, 35 female), 12 of whom where children. Fourier-transformed infrared spectroscopy was used for stone analysis. As is known from other countries, calcium oxalate (CaOx) stones were the most frequent, with 68.7% of all stones in adults and 43.7% of childhood stones. Uric acid and uric acid dihydrate stones were more often seen in adults (13.2%) than in children (4. 1%). Ammonium urate stones are common in the Sudan, especially in children (32.9%), which is typical for underdeveloped countries. Infectious stones (struvite and carbonate apatite) were more often found in women (7.0%) and in children (5.3%) than in men (1.4%). Brushite stones were seldom seen and cystine stones did not occur.