[Epidemiology of calcium calculi in a French region. Initial results after 4 years]. / Epidémiologie de la lithiase calcique dans une région française. Premiers résultats à 4 ans.

Between July 1, 1980 and August 1984, 222 patients (112 men and 112 women) were referred to the Nephrology out-patient clinic of a hospital serving a population of about 250,000. Urolithiasis was revealed by renal colics in 71% of the cases; 64 patients (29%) had been suffering from one or several attacks of renal colic before the study period. The first clinical symptoms appeared between the ages of 20 and 59 years in over 80% of the cases, with a peak of incidence between 30 and 39 years. Calcium stone lithiasis was as frequent in women as in men; the sex ratio was around 1 whatever the patient's age at the onset of the disease; 65% of patients had hypercalciuria on an unrestricted diet. The annual incidence of urolithiasis (hospital cases) was 15.6 for 100,000 inhabitants, and the theoretical prevalence (distribution of new patients aged about 50) 0.8 for 100 inhabitants. These epidemiological data compared with those in the literature, show a relatively low incidence of urolithiasis, notably among men, in that particular region of France.

[Immunoglobulin A glomerulonephritis. Epidemiology in a population of 250 000 inhabitants]. / Glomérulonéphrite à immunoglobulines A. Epidémiologie dans une population de 250 000 habitants.

Between April 1, 1975 and May 1, 1982, 192 cases of primary glomerulonephritis were histologically diagnosed in the Nephrology centre of a health district with 250 000 inhabitants; 58 (30.2%) of the lesions were IgA glomerulonephritis. All patients were born and lived in that district. At the end of the period under review the prevalence of IgA glomerulonephritis was evaluated at 1/10 000 and its incidence at 2.5/100 000 per year. The disease began in subjects under 35 years of age in 65% of the cases, with a peak between 16 and 25 years. Thirty-seven patients were symptom-free, and the condition was diagnosed either at recruitment in the army (15 cases; 25.2%) or during the annual medical examination of industrial workers (19 cases; 39.7%). At the end of the study, 21 patients (36%) had renal failure, and 5 of these (8.5%) were under periodical haemodialysis. This study shows how valuable it would be from a socio-economic point of view if the role played by public health institutions in detecting the disease were confirmed and if its prevalence among the French population were precisely known.