Childhood Urinary Stones Induced By Melamine-Tainted Formula: How Much We Know, How Much We Don't Know

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Main Category: Pediatrics / Children's Health
Also Included In: Urology / Nephrology;  Nutrition / Diet
Article Date: 11 Apr 2009 - 1:00 PST

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UroToday.com - Stone disease in children seems to be on the rise since I started as a pediatric urologist. The number of children we first saw in one year, I am seeing on a monthly basis.

The latest scare has been in China with melamine-induced kidney stones. Doctors in China have gained a vast experience in childhood stone disease diagnosis and management through screening and treating childhood urinary stones thought to be induced by melamine-tainted formula.

In their review of earlier reports on animals along with recent experiences with children, they concluded that there was no evidence, either from animal experiments or from humans, to support the direct toxicity of melamine on the kidney, although a feasible follow-up and assessment might be needed.

It would be critical in my opinion to evaluate these children from a metabolic standpoint as well. Stones typically are multifactorial and all risk factors must be delineated so that recurrent epsiodes can be prevented as much as possible.

Ding J
Kidney Int. 2009 Feb 25. Epub ahead of print.
doi:10.1038/ki.2009.30

Written by UroToday.com Medical Editor Pasquale Casale, MD

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