CHEMICAL DISSOLUTION OF KIDNEY STONES

Experimental and Clinical Results

Abstract

Litholytic agents developed recently are able to dissolve a number of kidney stones. Two methods are developed for this purpose:
a) The retrograde irrigation of the kidney cavities with chelate solutions containing ethylenediamine-tetra-acetic acid (EDTA) which can be tolerated by the mucous membrane of the urinary tract, and b) The oral or intravenous administration of suitable drugs which inhibit the formation of a solid/liquid phase (crystallisation) or which are able to react with renal stones and form water soluble compounds.
Uric acid, l-cystine and also phosphate stones, can be dissolved by means of an oral treatment. The problem of the oral treatment of oxalate stones still remains undissolved. However, the “anti-salting out” principle is applied in order to reduce the frequency of recurrent calcium oxalate stone formation. In the present paper we are reporting some experimental investigations which have been undertaken in the department of Urology of the MINERVA Research Society, and in the Research Institute for Experimental Biology and Medicine, in order to develop a conservative treatment of urolithiasis. Some clinical results are also reported as well as X-ray illustrations of successfully treated cases.