Kidney stone disease: risk factors, pathophysiology and management.
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Narrative review synthesizing existing literature without systematic review methodology or new human data.
PubMed 40790363 · doi:10.1038/s41581-025-00990-x
What was done
Narrative review summarizing the epidemiology, pathophysiological mechanisms, systemic disease associations, diagnostic evaluation, and medical and surgical treatment options for nephrolithiasis.
What was found
The abstract provides no numerical findings or statistical estimates. It describes an increasing global prevalence over the past five decades across age, sex, and ethnicity groups, and identifies nephrolithiasis as a systemic condition associated with chronic kidney disease, cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome, and low bone mass. It highlights calcium oxalate stones as the most frequent form—driven primarily by hypercalciuria, hyperoxaluria, hypocitraturia, and low urine volume—and links uric acid and calcium phosphate stone formation to urinary pH alterations. Individualized dietary and pharmacological prevention, as well as surgical interventions such as ureteroscopy and percutaneous nephrolithotomy, are cited as effective management approaches.
Why it matters
It highlights nephrolithiasis as a multifaceted systemic condition requiring tailored metabolic workups and targeted recurrence prevention rather than treating it merely as an episodic urinary tract condition.
Limits
As a broad narrative review, the paper does not follow a systematic search protocol or provide quantitative data synthesis. Specific effect sizes, recurrence reduction rates, and comparative surgical outcomes are not reported in the abstract.
Cited by
- supports Calcium oxalate stones represent the most common type of kidney stones.