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2018 JUL 14 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Obesity, Fitness & Wellness Week -- Researchers detail new data in Calculi. According to news reporting out of [...]

The past decade has seen revolutionary developments in the surgical management of nephrolithiasis. Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy, improved fiberoptic equipment, and laser techniques have virtually eliminated the need for open [...]

Concretions--calcified deposits embedded within the palpebral conjunctiva--are often small and do not cause irritation. However, if they are large or prominent, they may rub against the bulbar conjunctiva or cornea, [...]

Hepatolithiasis (stones within the liver) occurs commonly in Asia. Patients with hepatolithiasis may also have common duct stones that originated not in the gallbladder, but rather in the liver. These stones and biliary (gallbladder) narrowing can cause severe biliary infection. These patients usually are seen to have acute cholangitis (inflammation of the bile ducts). Immediate operation is necessary in about 25 percent of patients; surgery is associated with a 10 percent mortality. It is not known why some patients and not others can be successfully treated without emergency surgery. A review was undertaken of 88 patients with acute cholangitis due to hepatolithiasis to identify any factors predisposing patients to needing surgery. Emergency surgery was required in 26 patients (30 percent); this was necessary because of septicemic shock in 15 patients, persistent fever in eight patients, or spread of peritoneal inflammation in three patients. Although the incidence of obstruction by stones within the liver was similar in patients undergoing emergency surgery or conservatively treated, those requiring immediate surgery also had obstruction outside the liver due to either impacted stones or narrowing of the common duct. Analysis of clinical and laboratory data found that a maximum pulse rate of more than 100 beats per minute within 24 hours of being seen and low numbers of platelets (cells involved in blood clotting) were independent predictors of the need for an emergency operation. This information may be helpful in identifying high-risk patients who need close monitoring and early surgery. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Kidney stones: Medical management Nonspecific preventive treatment for calcium nephrolithiasis includes advice to increase fluid intake--thus lowering urinary concentrations of stone-forming substances--and to avoid dietary excess of calcium (800-1,000 mg/d). [...]

The ureter is the tube that allows passage of urine from the kidneys to the bladder. It can become blocked by stones. Treatment to remove such stones varies, depending on the location of the stones. If the stones are lodged toward the lower end of the ureter, they can usually be removed directly with a ureteroscope. On the other hand, if they are in the upper third of the ureter, shock wave lithotripsy, fragmentation of the stones with shock waves, is normally used. Such stones are usually pushed with a catheter back into the kidneys prior to lithotripsy, as stones that are bathed in urine or other fluids respond much better to the procedure. The more difficult situation is where the stones can neither be reached with a ureteroscope nor pushed back into the kidneys. This study reported on the treatment of ureter stones with lithotripsy where the stones initially could not be manipulated with either a ureteroscope for direct removal nor with a catheter to push the stones into the kidneys. Lithotripsy was used to treat 261 stones that did not respond to initial manipulations and remained in place in the ureter. Fragmentation was successfully achieved for 254 (97 percent) of the stones, with 219 (86 percent) successfully fragmented with only one lithotripsy treatment. Thirty more cases were successful after two treatments and five cases were successful after three treatments. Retrograde catheters were in place when the lithotripsy was performed on 215 (82 percent) patients. Neither the presence nor the placement of these catheters affected treatment outcomes. In 81 cases, some type of intervention was required following lithotripsy to help remove the stones. These results indicate that lithotripsy can be highly successful in treating ureteral stones that cannot be manipulated by other means. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Rhinolith is an uncommon nasal mass in children and adolescents. We report a 8 years old boy with a long history of foul smelling right nasal discharge, progressive nasal obstruction and recurrent epistaxis, which were clinically suspected as being due to the presence of a long standing foreign body. The rhinolith of right nasal cavity was diagnosed on rigid endoscopic examination. Rhinolith was removed by using 00 rigid nasal endoscope. This article includes a brief review of the literature. Keywords: Rhinolith, endoscopy, Table of Contents Abstract Introduction Case report Discussion References Introduction Rhinoliths are calcareous concretions around calcinated intranasal foreign bodies within the nasal cavity (1). They are usually found in the [...]

Until recently, treatment for stones in the ureter, the tube connecting the kidney and the bladder, was limited to either close observation to see if the stone passed on its own, manipulating it with a scope to get it to pass, or surgery. New treatments include dissolving the stone with shock waves (extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy, or ESWL) and using a ureteroscope to manipulate and remove the stone. ESWL is preferred when the stone is in the upper third of the ureter, while the ureteroscope is usually used when the stone is in the lower third of the ureter. ESWL is most effective when the stone is surrounded by fluid (i.e. urine). This can be accomplished by passing a catheter past the blocked area or by pushing the stone into the kidneys. In the January 1990 issue of Radiology, Barr et al. report that ESWL can be highly successful, even when the catheter cannot be passed through the blockage and treatment with a ureteroscope fails. These researchers used a higher number of shock waves than is normally used. The ureteroscope is more successful in treating stones when the stones are more distal (lower). The instrument used is rigid and it is difficult to manipulate it beyond a certain point in the ureter. When it is used, the stone is caught in a basket and then removed or destroyed. Success in using this technique is highly dependent upon the skill of the technician using the scope. The more problematic situation is where the stone cannot be removed with the ureteroscope nor can it be pushed into the kidney. Although the study by Barr reported success with repeated ESWL treatments, it did not mention whether repeated ureteroscopic treatments were attempted. Once the ureteroscope reaches the stone, repeat treatments are rarely required, unlike ESWL. The Barr study certainly indicates that ESWL is useful as a secondary treatment for stones that cannot be reached with a ureteroscope or a catheter, but this situation involves only a small population of the patients with these stones. Ureteroscopic extraction of stones from distal regions, and the middle regions if they can be reached, of the ureter is still preferable to ESWL. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Sialolithiasis is the most common pathology of the submandibular gland, as 80% of all salivary duct calculi form in the submandibular (Wharton's) duct. (1) A lower incidence of calculi is [...]