What is a staghorn calculus?
What is a staghorn kidney stone? Staghorn kidney stones are large, solid growths (calculi) that form in the kidneys where urine is formed. As the stones grow bigger and harden (calcify), they take resemble the horns of a stag deer, giving the condition its name.
How big is a staghorn calculus?
Urinary tract calculi (i.e., “liths” or stones) may vary in size from less than 1 mm to several centimeters (“staghorn” calculi) and are typically seen as round, oval, or polygonal foci of high radiodensity within the renal parenchyma (Fig.
What does calculus mean in ultrasound?
A calculus (plural calculi), often called a stone, is a concretion of material, usually mineral salts, that forms in an organ or duct of the body.
What causes a staghorn calculus?
Staghorn calculi are most frequently composed of mixtures of magnesium ammonium phosphate (struvite) and calcium carbonate apatite; they are strongly associated with UTIs caused by organisms that produce the enzyme urease, which promotes the generation of ammonia and hydroxide from urea.
Why it is called staghorn calculi?
Staghorn calculi, also sometimes called coral calculi, are renal calculi that obtain their characteristic shape by forming a cast of the renal pelvis and calyces, thus resembling the horns of a stag. They refer to struvite calculi involving the renal pelvis and extending into at least two calyces7.
Where is the staghorn calculus located?
A staghorn kidney stone is a term used to describe a large stone that takes up more than one branch of the collecting system in the renal pelvis of the kidney. By way of review, the urinary tract begins with the kidneys. The kidneys, one on each side, sit high in the upper abdomen partially underneath the rib cage.
How common are staghorn calculi?
Although kidney stones are commoner in men, staghorn stones are less often reported in men compared to women and they are usually unilateral [4–8]. Staghorn stones are infection stones in 49–68% of cases and, therefore, the term staghorn traditionally referred to struvite stone [9,10].
What is calculus in Lumen?
From there, bile moves down the common bile duct and enters your small intestine. Sometimes this process is inhibited and bile builds up inside your gallbladder, causing it to become larger and inflamed. This buildup can lead to the creation of gallstones, or gallbladder calculi.