Clinical relevance of seasonal changes in the prevalence of ureterolithiasis in the diagnosis of renal colic

Ureterolithiasis is one of the most frequently diagnosed urologic diseases worldwide. Its annual incidence in Japan increased three-fold from 1965 to 2005. Ureterolithiasis incidence is affected by numerous factors, including race, sex, body weight, fluid intake, and climate. Here, we aimed to address the latter by considering the effect of seasonal variation on stone incidence and incorporating this information into a predictive model for differential diagnosis of ureteral stone from other conditions with similar presentations. We retrospectively identified 491 patients in our emergency department computer database who complained of back, flank, or lower abdominal pain during 2007–2015. Among them, 358 had stones, as confirmed by computerized tomography or plain abdominal X-ray of kidney–ureter–bladder. We also charted the mean ambient temperatures in our city for a year. The cases of ureteral stones paralleled the ambient temperatures, peaking during the hottest weather. Univariate analysis identified 13 factors associated with ureteral stones. Multivariate analysis narrowed the number to eight: age <60 years, male sex, short duration of pain (<6 h), nausea/vomiting, hydronephrosis, hematuria, history of urinary stone(s), and summer (July–September in Japan). Pain appearing during summer was nine times more likely to be due to a ureteral stone than was pain appearing during other seasons. We incorporated the eight variables identified into a predictive logistic regression model, which yielded good prediction of ureteral stones. Awareness that hot weather is associated with increased incidence of ureterolithiasis could facilitate differential diagnosis, and our prediction model could be useful for screening for ureterolithiasis.