ABSTRACT
To investigate the relationship between renal stone formation and osteoporosis. Eight hundred thirty healthy subjects aged between 20 and 76 years were randomly selected from 50 clusters to take part in the study. Of these, 68 [8.2%] had a previous history of renal stone disease. All participants underwent clinical examination and bone mineral densitometry of the lumbar spine and femur using the dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry technique. Plasma levels of vitamin D3, calcium, phosphate, alkaline phosphatase, and parathyroid hormone were also measured. Data showed that patients with a history of renal stones had a higher prevalence of osteoporosis [16.7%] and os-teopenia [53.3%] than the subjects without a history of renal stone disease [11.2% and 35.7%, respectively]. For both men and women the mean age of patients with a history of renal stone disease was significantly lower than patients with no dis-ease history [men: with history 44.27 +/- 14.8, without history 50.28 +/- 12.3; P= 0.02] [women: with history 43.21 +/- 11.8, without history 49.06 +/- 9.6; P= 0.02]. Female patients with a history of renal stone disease also had a significantly lower [8.74%] mean spinal bone density [P= 0.02], but there were no other significant differences in either the biochemical parameters that were measured or in the hip bone density. These data suggest that osteoporosis may be more prevalent in those patients that have had a history of renal stone formation