DOI: 10.36347/sjams.2013.v01i06.0109

Pages: 1181-1185

Background: Kidney stones have been associated with an increased risk of chronic kidney diseases, end-stage renal failure, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and hypertension. It has been suggested that kidney stone may be a systemic disorder linked to the metabolic syndrome. Nephrolithiasis is responsible for 2 to 3% of end-stage renal cases if it is associated with nephrocalcinosis. There is a lack of consensus about whether the initial imaging method for patients with suspected nephrolithiasis should be computed tomography (CT) or ultrasonography. Material and Methods: This is a Prospective study was carried out at Dept. of Radiology & Imaging, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, Dhaka, Bangladesh July 2012 to June 2013. Total 120 patients’ USG and CTU were compared for the presence of calculi. Sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of USG were calculated with CTU as the gold standard. Patient with full urinary bladder was positioned supine on CT examination table and scanned from the upper abdomen to the symphysis pubis with image reconstructed at 5 mm intervals. No oral or intravenous contrast media was given. Results: From the 120 sets of data collected, 41 calculi were detected on both USG and CTU. The sensitivity and specificity of renal calculi detection on USG were 53.3% and 85% respectively. The mean size of the renal calculus detected on USG was 6.8 mm ± 3.8 mm and the mean size of the renal calculus not visualized on USG but detected on CTU was 3.5 mm ± 2.7 mm. The sensitivity and specificity of ureteric calculi detection on USG were 11.6% and 96.6% respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of urinary bladder calculi detection on USG were 20% and 100% respectively. Conclusion: US is an ideal first-line imaging modality for nephrolithiasis due to its advantages such as low cost, absence of radiation, and easy availability. But the reason for its limited use is due to its decreased sensitiv