Welcome to Renal Stone Research a supplement to Stone News, a newsletter where we discuss the most relevant aspects about stone disease

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The study of the etiopathogenesis of kidney stones has developed since the 60s of the last century. A powerful vehicle of knowledge in this field have been the symposia of the International Society of Urolithiasis that have been held regularly every 4 years starting from the first symposium that took place in Leeds (UK) in 1968. During these events all the evidences and innovations of the previous four years were presented regarding epidemiology, diagnosis, experimental and laboratory studies, medical and surgical treatment of kidney stones. 

New symposium will be organized in the United States in 2026. Furthermore, in recent years new fields of interest related to renal stone disease have developed, in particular genetics and artificial intelligence that require the involvement of geneticists, pediatricians and computer technology scientists. 

The purpose of this letter is to involve and inform urologists interested in the study of the etiopathogenesis, epidemiology, diagnosis, medical treatment and prevention of kidney stone disease. 

Each issue of this newsletter will contain a cover story in which one of the most important renal stone experts of the last 50 years will tell how he was involved in research on renal stone, her/his scientific career and the main results achieved. The second part is dedicated to a current scientific theme that presents controversial aspects with the aim of sparking a debate among the readers of the newsletter. 

The distribution and publication of this newsletter is sponsored by Devicare that offered its generous unconditioned support to this initiative.

In this issue we have the valuable participation of Prof. Hans-Göran Tiselius who will share his memories and thoughts on his career in lithiasis research in the first person. In the second part of the newsletter, Dr. Alberto Trinchieri will discuss the use of thiazides for the kidney stones disease treatment reviewing some of the evidence and metanalysis available. 

I hope that this newsletter will help to increase interest in urolithiasis research and provide a meeting place for those urologists and scientists who wish to be involved in the next ISU Congress, which will be held in Chicago in 2026.

Hans-Göran Tiselius MD,PhD,Professor Emeritus of Urology

Thiazide diuretics have been recommended by most clinical guidelines as a medical intervention for the prevention of calcium kidney stones. In 2020, this certainty was questioned after the publication of the results of the No stone study, which could not confirm a significant benefit of the administration of thiazide diuretics in the prevention of kidney stones. 

Subsequently, the results of the No stone study have been questioned by some Authors who have commented and criticized this study. In recent years, several studies have been published that have re-evaluated the effectiveness of thiazides with different methodological approaches that are summarized in the following slides. 

In view of the uncertainty about the efficacy of these drugs, it may be useful to gather the opinions of experts in the treatment of kidney stones to draw up a document that expresses a recommendation on the current role of thiazide diuretics in the prevention of kidney stones.

Expert Panel on the “Use of Thiazides for Renal Stone Prevention”

A survey will be made according to an iterative structured protocol. Participation to Round 0 is open to all the recipients of Renal Stone Research Newsletter.

In Round 0, participants will brainstorm ideas or express their positions on the topic in an open-ended format. They should submit a Word file containing a short text (about 250 words) summarizing their opinion on the use of thiazides for the prevention of renal stones at the following e-mail address renalstoneresearch@libero.it (deadline 1 March 2025).

The text should include information about previous personal experience with the use of thiazides (number of cases, “historical” period of administration, selection of patients to treat, results, side effects); opinion about the evidence of literature and the results of NO STONE trial; change of practice after the publication of NOSTONE trial; other relevant issues. The file should include name and surname, year of birth, institution, country. All the participants to Round 0 will be cited in the list of Collaborators of the paper where the results of the survey will be presented. A group of respondents will be selected to participate in the following rounds of the survey.