ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION Urolithiasis is a disorder that has cut across all historical, geographical, demographic and social boundaries. From the days of the predynastic Egyptians until the present time, kidney stones have perplexed patients and physicians alike and, although during that time the methods for removing stones have advanced from the crudely barbaric to the highly sophisticated, the problem of how successfully to prevent their recurrence in a given patient continues to challenge urologists and nephrologists.
