Calcium oxalate urinary calculi: clinical and chemical aspects

In 117 male patients with proven calcium oxalate renal calculi, adults of all ages were affected. There was a low incidence of urinary tract obstruction and infection and a high incidence of recurrence and bilateral disease. The group of patients could not be characterized as to a specific abnormality of blood or urine. There were no differences between all patients, a subset with multiple stones and normals with regard to the mean urinary excretions of calcium, magnesium and oxalic acid. There were no differences between the frequency distribution of patients with high excretions of both calcium and oxalic acid or low excretions of both calcium and oxalic acid. Mean supersaturation ratios and the frequency distribution of supersaturation ratios in 31 stone patients were the same as in 32 normal men. The data suggest that the difference between calcium oxalate stone patients and normals lies in the process of initiation.