Nephrolithiasis: a consequence of renal epithelial cell exposure to oxalate and calcium oxalate crystals.

Abstract

Crystals begin to form in earlier segments of the nephron with a chance to grow and be retained in the collecting ducts after aggregation with other large crystals. Crystal deposits in the collecting ducts near the papillary surface, when exposed to the renal pelvic urine, become nidi for the development of kidney stones.