Medical investigation and treatment of urinary stones: a search for new ideas.

The main threads of recent research into the cause and treatment of calcium oxalate/phosphate stones are reviewed. Little progress has been made in recent years, and two main reasons can be identified. First, there has been too much emphasis upon calcium and too little emphasis upon urinary oxalate as causative factors. Second, there has been too much emphasis upon the physical chemistry of simple solutions and too little emphasis upon the study of whole urine.