BONE-MINERAL DENSITY IN PATIENTS WITH HYPERCALCIURIC NEPHROLITHIASIS

Bone mineral density was studied in 50 adult patients with renal lithi asis and metabolic diagnosis of idiopathic hypercalciuria. Thirty were premenopausal women and 20 were men under 55 years of age. Bone densi ty at the lumbar spine (LSBD) was 0.940 +/- 0.106 g/cm(2) in the hyper calciuric patients compared to 1.112 +/- 0.037 g/cm(2) in a cohort of age- and sex-matched controls (p < 0.001). LSBD was independent of age and was negatively correlated with the duration of stone disease (r = -0.52, p < 0.001). Thus we conclude that patients with idiopathic hyp ercalciuria have a decrease in their LSBD that is probably related to a negative calcium balance sustained over time.