Advances in Urolithiasis Imaging

Prevalence of urinary stones in the United States has been described as 1 in 11 persons reporting a history of stones. Imaging plays a vital role in diagnosis, management and follow-up for these patients. Imaging technology over the last 100 years has advanced as the disease prevalence has increased.

Key points of this paper include:

• Computed tomography (CT) remains the gold standard for imaging urolithiasis and changes in this technology, with the addition of multidetector CT and dual-energy CT, as well as the changes in utilization of CT, have decreased radiation dose encountered by patients and allowed for improved stone detection
• Use of Digital Tomography has been introduced for follow-up of recurrent stone formers offering potential to lower radiation exposure over the course of a patient's life long treatment
• A demand for improved imaging techniques to detect smaller stones and stones in larger patients at lower radiation doses still exists
• In addition, there is a continued need for judicious use of all imaging modalities for health care cost containment and patient safety 

Reference: Dale JA, et al. Imaging Advances for Urolithiasis. J Endourol. 2017 Apr 12.