ABSTRACT
Most kidney stones in the industrialized world are composed primarily of calcium salts, in both adults and children. For example, among 2011 patients seen in the Kidney Stone clinic at the University of Chicago who have had a stone analysis, 76% formed stones composed mainly of calcium oxalate, in either the monohydrate (whewhellite) or dihydrate (weddellite) form, and 12% stones that were mainly calcium phosphate (as either hydroxyapatite or brushite). Most stones contain a mixture of both salts, bound together by a macromolecular matrix. The distribution of calcium phosphate as a component of analyzed stones from idiopathic calcium stone formers in our clinic is shown in Figure 7.1. Phosphate-containing stones are relatively more common among women (1), although overall, stone disease is more common in men.
