Govindarajan KK. Variation coefficient of stone density – can it crack the stone? World J Nephrol 2025; 14(3): 101469 [DOI: 10.5527/wjn.v14.i3.101469]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Krishna Kumar Govindarajan, MD, FACS, MBBS, MCh, MNAMS, Professor, Department of Pediatric Surgery, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, Dhanvantri Nagar, Puducherry 605006, India. kkpeds@gmail.com
Research Domain of This Article
Urology & Nephrology
Article-Type of This Article
Editorial
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Nephrol. Sep 25, 2025; 14(3): 101469 Published online Sep 25, 2025. doi: 10.5527/wjn.v14.i3.101469
Variation coefficient of stone density – can it crack the stone?
Krishna Kumar Govindarajan
Krishna Kumar Govindarajan, Department of Pediatric Surgery, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, Puducherry 605006, India
Author contributions: Govindarajan KK conceived and wrote the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: No conflict of interest declared.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Krishna Kumar Govindarajan, MD, FACS, MBBS, MCh, MNAMS, Professor, Department of Pediatric Surgery, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, Dhanvantri Nagar, Puducherry 605006, India. kkpeds@gmail.com
Received: September 15, 2024 Revised: February 4, 2025 Accepted: February 12, 2025 Published online: September 25, 2025 Processing time: 367 Days and 1 Hours
Abstract
Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) is recognised as the ideal non-invasive procedure for urolithiasis. However, the suitability of ESWL varies depending on the composition of the stone. The chemical structure of the stone may not be uniform throughout the stone and this heterogeneity provides the clue in the form of variation coefficient of stone density. To be aware of the success of the stone breakage by ESWL is an advantage upfront, so that it is possible to apply the technology to the most appropriate patient. This is an important aspect in the successful management of urolithiasis.
Core Tip: Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy is a popular technology for management of urolithiasis. Available factors for predicting the successful outcome of the procedure are many but not reliable. The objective is to explore the utility of variation coefficient of stone density as a parameter in effective lithotripsy.
