[Microalbuminuria before and one month after extracorporeal lithotripsy. First results]

Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy represents extraordinary progress for the treatment of urinary calculi. The apparent aggressivity of this technique leads to investigating whether it may have an impact on the renal parenchyma, as was suggested by many works, especially with radionuclide explorations. Microalbumin assays before and about one month after lithotripsy show an iatrogenic pathological increase in levels in some cases, especially after long, intensive sessions of treatment, whether the lithotripter used was of the shock-wave or piezoelectric-wave type. When lithotripty was performed with a piezoelectric-wave device, the increase in microalbumin is related to the "cumulative" factor, which is in turn related to the power, frequency (per second) and length of shots. More extensive investigations and, most importantly, investigations over a longer period are necessary to confirm or invalidate the results of this first study, to establish the frequency of cases where this abnormality appears, whether it can last long, and how far it can be predictive of the parenchymal lesions and of their long-term impact.