Epidemiological characteristics of childhood urolithiasis in Morocco

Abstract

Objectives: Due to the increase observed in the incidence of pediatric urolithiasis in the world, and the scarcity of studies of this pathology in Morocco, we assessed whether epidemiological characteristics of pediatric urolithiasis have a similar profile like in developed countries further we tried to assess the prevalence of this pathology among children in Hassan II University-Hospital of Fez.

Subjects and methods: Between January 2003 to November 2013, 104 pediatric patients with urolithiasis were presented to Hassan II University-Hospital of Fez. Eighty one were boys and 23 girls. Patients were referred from different regions of Moroccan states.

Results: Out of 104 children diagnosed with urolithiasis, 5 patients with positive family history of renal stones, and 12 were recurrent (12%). Their age varied between 8 months and 15 years old, with a mean age of 7.86 ± 4. The sex ratio was 3.5:1 boys to girls. Clinical presentations were dominated by micturition disorder (59%), abdominal or flank pain (28%), nephritic colic (22%), hematuria (22%) and urinary tract infection (13%). Stones were located in the upper urinary tract in 62.5% of cases. Stones were treated by surgery in 89 cases (89%), and with ESWL in only 2 cases (2%). Over these years of study, a prevalence of 0.83% of childhood urolithiasis was calculated.

Conclusions: This preliminary study represents only a region of the country, so more epidemiological analyses should be done. Stone analysis should be performed more frequently, and patients must be presented at earlier stages, before any development of renal failure.

Keywords: Urolithiasis; Children; Epidemiology; Prevalence; Fez; Morocco