[Guest]

Doctor has confused me. So here goes my Question. I have all symptoms, of a stone. Dr. is not calling it a stone, he is saying calcification, I would think a stone, also y say it is not in part of kidney a where urine is med in outer layer of kidney so y questioning how to break it up. My question is if y do how can I past if it is not in urine making a of Kidney????

[Guest]

A calcification is a visualization on an x-ray. While this is often a stone, it can be other things too. It sounds like your physician is trying to describe a calcification located in the outer area of the kidney away from the collecting system. This would be highly unusual. I would suspect that he would be looking at trying to find some small connection between the calcification and the urine draining portion to establish exactly what this "calcification" is and what to do about it.

I cannot give you a definitive diagnosis from a complicated case with only a minimal description. If your physician is not sure what it is or what to do, ask him to recommend a more experienced or knowledgeable stone expert for a second opinion. If the "stone" or "calcification" is not in the collecting system, then it is not the source of your discomfort and may not be a stone at all. Sometimes this can be sorted out by an IVP (intravenous pyelogram or kidney x-ray) or plain tomograms to help identify exactly where this calcification is. You may want to ask your physician about these tests if they haven't already been performed.

Stephen W. Leslie, MD FACS

Assistant Clincal Professor
Medical College of Ohio

Founder and Medical Director
Lorain Kidney Stone Research Center
Lorain, Ohio