Diagnosis of ureteral calculi in nonobstructive upper urinary tract with ultrasound

Objective To investigate the value of ultrasound in the diagnosis of ureteral calculi in nonobstructive upper urinary tract.Methods With a moderately filled bladder,ultrasound scan was performed along the tract of ureter with various body positions and the characters of ureteral calculi on ultrasound were analyzed.Results Among 243 cases of ureteral calculi,50(20.5%) cases were atypical ureteral calculi with nonobstructive upper urinary tract,which were confirmed clinically by stone-removing treatment.Conclusion For those patients who have lithouria symptoms and hematuria in routine urinalysis without typical images on ultrasound,very careful ultrasound scan should be performed to confirm the existence of atypical ureteral calculi.Examination with various body positions and multi-dimension methods is needed to reduce the rate of missed diagnosis.