[Epidemiological changes of paediatric urolithiasis in Tunisia].
BACKGROUND
The clinical and biological characteristics of urolithiasis in children are still evolving in our country. Since the eighties no study has been conducted to determine incidence of urolithiasis in Tunisia.


OBJECTIVE
To define the current status of urolithiasis in Tunisian children.


METHODS
The records of 414 children with urolithiasis treated between 1983 and 2007 were found in a multi-centric study which took into consideration to age, sex, and history diagnosis and physical, laboratory, and radiologic findings. Clinical and biological date were performed in 344 cases. Stone analysis was performed by spectrophotometry.


RESULTS
The incidence of paediatric urolithiasis has steadily decreased from 0.7/ 10 000 of the child population / year in 1991-1994 to 0.1 cases/10 000 children/ year in 2007. There was a continuous decrease in bladder stone over the past 25 years (47.1% in 1982-1986 Vs 10.2% in 2002-2007). Stones were homogeneous in 31.4% of cases. The main component was calcium oxalate stones in 36.4% of the cases. Since the eighties the increase of oxalates stones (15.6% in eighties Vs 51.5% actually) were with depends to purines and struvite stones.


CONCLUSIONS
Epidemiologic characteristics of the urinary lithiasis (sex, age, localization and composition) have changed in Tunisia, due to the the improvements of standard of living. The occidentalization of the nutritional practices and the receding of the culinary traditions gave birth to new risks of urolithiasis characterized by the emergence of calcium oxalate stones.
Laboratoire de biochimie - toxicologie, CHU Monastir, Tunisie.
Akram
A
Alaya
Abdellatif
A
Nouri
Mohamed
M
F Najjar
D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013997:Time Factors; D014416:Tunisia / Q000453:epidemiology; D052878:Urolithiasis / Q000453:epidemiology*