[Epidemiology of calcium calculi in a French region. Initial results after 4 years]

Between July 1, 1980 and August 1984, 222 patients (112 men and 112 women) were referred to the Nephrology out-patient clinic of a hospital serving a population of about 250,000. Urolithiasis was revealed by renal colics in 71% of the cases; 64 patients (29%) had been suffering from one or several attacks of renal colic before the study period. The first clinical symptoms appeared between the ages of 20 and 59 years in over 80% of the cases, with a peak of incidence between 30 and 39 years. Calcium stone lithiasis was as frequent in women as in men; the sex ratio was around 1 whatever the patient's age at the onset of the disease; 65% of patients had hypercalciuria on an unrestricted diet. The annual incidence of urolithiasis (hospital cases) was 15.6 for 100,000 inhabitants, and the theoretical prevalence (distribution of new patients aged about 50) 0.8 for 100 inhabitants. These epidemiological data compared with those in the literature, show a relatively low incidence of urolithiasis, notably among men, in that particular region of France.