title: Relationship Between Spontaneous Passage Rates of Ureteral Stones Less Than 8 mm and Serum C-Reactive Protein Levels and Neutrophil Percentages.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  A ureter obstruction caused by a ureteral stone results in inflammatory changes in the proximal submucosal layer and prevents the spontaneous passage of the ureteral stone. Accordingly, we analyzed the relationship between the spontaneous passage rates of ureteral stones less than 8 mm in size and serum C-reactive protein (CRP) levels and neutrophil percentages.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 187 patients who were diagnosed with ureteral stones less than 8 mm in size and were managed consecutively at Keimyung University Dongsan Medical Center from January 2001 to January 2011 were retrospectively analyzed. Ureteral stone removal was defined as no ureteral stone shown in an imaging test without any treatment for 8 weeks after diagnosis. The patients were divided into three groups according to the levels of serum CRP and into two groups according to neutrophil percentage. The associations between these factors and ureteral stone passage rates were then examined.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The ureteral stone passage rates of the low serum CRP level group, the medium serum CRP level group, and the high serum CRP level group were 94.1% (159/169), 70% (7/10), and 50.0% (4/8), respectively. The passage rates of ureteral stones in the group with a normal neutrophil percentage and in the group with a higher neutrophil percentage were 94.5% (121/128) and 83.1% (49/59), respectively (p=0.011).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Measuring serum CRP levels and neutrophil percentages in patients with small ureteral stones of less than 8 mm is useful in predicting whether the stone will be spontaneously passed. When the serum CRP level and neutrophil percentage of a patient are high, aggressive treatment such as extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy should be considered.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Keimyung University School of Medicine, Daegu, Korea.
authors.forename: Chang Hyun
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Ji Yong
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Ha
authors.forename: Choal Hee
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Chun Il
authors.initials: CI
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Kwang Se
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Byung Hoon
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Kim
keywords: C-reactive protein; Neutrophil; Ureterolithiasis
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