Vascular calcification on the risk of kidney stone: a meta-analysis

Figures & data

Figure 1. Flow chart of the literature search and study selection.

Table 1. Assessment of the quality of the studies according to the NOS.

Study	Year	Selection				Comparability	Outcome assessment			Quality score
		①	②	③	④	⑤	⑥	⑦	⑧
Shavit	2015	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	7
Patil	2016	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	7
Tanaka	2017	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	7
Kim	2018	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	7
Stern	2019	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	8
Schoenfeld	2021	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	7
Li	2022	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	7

① Representativeness of the exposed cohort; ② selection of the non-exposed cohort; ③ ascertainment of exposure; ④ demonstration that outcome of interest was not present at start of study; ⑤ comparability of cohorts on the basis of the design or analysis; ⑥ assessment of outcome; ⑦ was follow-up long enough for outcomes to occur; ⑧ adequacy of follow up of cohorts.

Table 2. Characteristics of the enrolled studies.

Study	Publication year	Study design	District	Center	Sample size (male)	Age (year)	Body mass index (kg/m^2)	Vascular calcification evaluation	Type of vascular calcification	Kidney stone evaluation
Shavit [34]	2015	Case-control study	UK	1	111 (63)	47 ± 13 for controls, 47 ± 14 for KSFs	NA	CT scans	Abdominal aortic calcification	Non-contrast CT scans of the abdomen and the pelvis
Patil [32]	2016	Case-control study	Saudi Arabia	1	240 (144)	41.1 ± 6.7 for controls, 40.6 ± 7.8 for KSFs	27.1 ± 4.6 for controls, 28.6 ± 4.8 for KSFs	Panoramic radiographs	Carotid artery calcification	Radiographic findings
Tanaka [35]	2017	Case-control study	Japan	2	439 (258)	62 (54–72) for controls, 63 (54–72) for KSFs	24 ± 4 for controls, 25 ± 4 for KSFs	Abdominal CT	Abdominal aortic calcification	Abdominal CT
Kim [31]	2018	Cross-sectional study	South Korea	3	62,091 (48,369)	41.5 ± 7.6 for all participants	24.3 ± 3.2 for all participants	Cardiac tomography	Coronary artery calcification	Ultrasonography of the abdomen
Stern [25]	2019	Case-control study	America	1	394 (156)	43 (19-67) for controls, 43 (19-75) for KSFs	27.5 for controls, 27.6 for KSFs	Non-contrast CT scans	Abdominal aortic and splenic artery calcification	Non-contrast CT scans
Schoenfeld [26]	2021	Case-control study	America	1	1344 (537)	51.9 ± 15.4 for controls, 51.8 ± 15.5 for KSFs	29.8 ± 7.2 for controls, 29.7 ± 6.9 for KSFs	Non-contrast CT scans	Abdominal aortic calcification	Non-contrast abdominal CT scans
Li [33]	2022	Case-control study	China	1	4516 (2749)	49.0 ± 11 for all participants	24.2 ± 3.3 for all participants	CT scans, abdominal vascular ultrasound	Abdominal aortic calcification	Abdominal CT (contrast and non-contrast), KUB, urinary ultrasound

Abbreviations: KSF, kidney stone formers; CT, computed tomography; KUB, kidney–ureter–bladder X-ray photography; NA, not available.

Figure 2. Pooled odds ratio of kidney stone disease in patients with vascular calcification compared with healthy control.

Figure 3. Forest plot of sensitivey analysis.

Figure 4. Begg’s funnel plot indicates no publication bias.

Figure 5. Pooled odds ratio of kidney stone disease in patients with abdominal aortic calcification compared with healthy control.

Figure 6. Pooled odds ratio of kidney stone disease in patients from different regions.

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