الفهرس 
ANATOMY OF THE KIDNEY
URINARY STONESOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Summary& Conclusion
Urolithiasis is a frequent clinical problem, which may lead to emergency
situations. The incidence and prevalence rates of kidney stones may be affected by
genetic, nutritional, and environmental factors. Renal stones tend to recur, and the
recurrence rate is about 75% during 20 years. Different methods are available to
radiologists for evaluating patients with acute renal colic. Ultrasonography (US) is
an accessible, relatively inexpensive imaging method that comes without the risks
of exposure to ionizing radiation entailed by CT.
However; using US to guide clinical decision-making for residual or
asymptomatic or ureteral calculi is limited by low sensitivity and inability to size
the stone accurately. As a result, one in five patients may be inappropriately
counselled when using US alone. Another imaging tool is Non-contrast CT which
is highly sensitive for stone detection. It can be performed rapidly and needs no
intravenous iodinated contrast. It can also identify non-urinary tract pathology;
detect most stones regardless of size, composition and location. Unenhanced CT is
also increasingly being used for treatment planning and post treatment surveillance
for stone recurrence. Radiation dose and cost for multiple CT examinations are of
great concern and not justifiable. Several low dose and ultra-low dose protocols
have been studied and they found that low dose CT-KUB can be performed in
short time, without requiring any bowel preparation, at far lesser cost as compared
to conventional NCCT. It provides accurate information regarding the stone size,
location, density, direct and indirect signs of obstruction and even diagnosis of
non-urological conditions.