Nephrolithiasis - John C. Lieske

CT and urinary correlates of renal stone precursor lesions

Principal Investigator
John C. Lieske, M.D.

Recent research has highlighted the importance of renal stone precursor lesions such as Randall's plaques. These studies, however, have necessitated a relatively invasive protocol involving capillary tip biopsy and stone removal. Therefore, this project has two broad aims. The first will be to correlate findings on ureteroscopic mapping with visualization by CT in order to define the limits of detection with modern dual-energy CT scans. These studies will be performed in close collaboration with Project 1: Noninvasive characterization of renal stones. The mapping studies will also be used to phenotype the patient's renal precursor lesions, which will then be correlated with urinary composition including supersaturation characteristics, urinary inhibitor activity and proteomics profile. Understanding the factors that drive formation of these precursor lesions will bring us one step closer to understanding the key pathogenic events, and devising appropriate preventative regimens.