Abstract
The statement has been made that hyperparathyroidism is frequently found as the etiological factor in renal calculi.
1
It becomes of interest to examine this hypothesis by all possible methods at our disposal. Since one may find normal total calcium figures in the presence
of hyperparathyroidism the simple determination of the total calcium and phosphorus is not entirely reliable.
McLean and Hastings 2 have recently proposed a simple method for the determination of the ionized calcium in the serum. This they believe is the most sensitive test available for detecting the presence of hyperparathyroidism.
Twenty-four patients with proven calcium stones were referred to the Metabolic Clinic by the Second Surgical Service (Dr. Edwin Beer). The Collip modification of the Tisdall method was used for the determination of the total serum calcium, and the Fiske-Subbarow method for the inorganic phosphorus. The serum proteins, after removal of non-protein nitrogenous substances, were determined by a modification of the Pregl micro-Kjeldahl procedure. The results are shown in Table I with the addition of data from control cases. These controls are used in addition to the normal figures published by McLean and Hastings.
There is no evidence of increased calcium ion concentration in any of the stone cases.
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