Symptomatic and Radiographic Manifestations of Kidney Stone Recurrence and Their Prediction by Risk Factors: A...

Area of Science:

• Nephrology
• Urology
• Radiology

Background:

• Interpreting changes in kidney stone burden requires understanding the relationship between radiographic and symptomatic recurrence.
• Established risk factors' ability to predict these different recurrence types needs further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between radiographic and symptomatic kidney stone recurrence.
• To assess the predictive power of the Recurrence of Kidney Stone (ROKS) score for different recurrence manifestations.

Main Methods:

• Recruited first-time symptomatic kidney stone formers.
• Conducted 5-year follow-up with computed tomography scans, surveys, and medical record review.
• Assessed symptomatic recurrence (clinical care/self-report) and radiographic recurrence (new stone, growth, passage) using the ROKS score.

Main Results:

• Symptomatic recurrence occurred in 19% (clinical care) and 25% (self-report).
• Radiographic recurrence included new stones (35%), growth (24%), and passage (27%).
• The ROKS score weakly predicted symptomatic recurrence via clinical care but strongly predicted any symptomatic or radiographic recurrence (67% 5-year rate).

Conclusions:

• Kidney stone recurrence is more common and predictable when considering all symptomatic and radiographic manifestations.
• Comprehensive assessment of recurrence is crucial for meaningful interpretation of kidney stone burden changes.