COMPARISON OF CALCUTRIPT LITHOCLAS - ELEC TROHYDRAULIC LITHOTRIPSY VERSUS ACOUSTIC PRESSURE WAVE LITHOTRIPSY - IN-VITRO STUDY ON CHALK CUBES

Intracorporeal lithotripters are available in nearly all urological in stitutions. The authors compared the CALCUTRIPT made by K. Storz Co. a nd the Swiss LITHOCLAST in in vitro studies. No major difference in th e efficacy of disintegration was observed after subjecting chalk cubes to the two modalities. Human tissue of the renal pelvis, ureter and b ladder was exposed to both energy-sources. In the case of the electroh ydraulic shock wave the authors found complete rupture of all three la yers of the ureteric wall after exposure even with low energy, while t issue perforation was observed in only one of 72 tissue samples expose d to the LITHOCLAST. The authors recommend the LITHOCLAST because of i ts minimal invasiveness for the treatment of calculi especially in the ureter.