Developmental morphology of calcium oxalate foreign body stones in rats

Summary Calcium oxalate bladder stones were induced in male rats by implanting plastic foreign bodies and by adding ethylene glycol to their drinking water. The foreign body surface was first coated with cellular debris and some amorphous material. Encrustation with crystals of calcium oxalate started on the third day of implantation. Within 2 weeks the entire surface of a foreign body was covered with crystals and some noncrystalline material. Calcium oxalate monohydrate crystals consisted of platelike crystallites arranged in hemispherulitic or spherulitic habit. Calcium oxalate dihydrate crystals were basically dipyramidal, a majority of them showing interpenetrant twinning. The stone grew by confluent crystal growth and crystal aggregation. A transformation of calcium oxalate monohydrate crystals to calcium oxalate dihydrate also occurred. The matrix consisting of cellular debris and urinary macromolecules was universally distributed in the stone including the inside of crystal bodies.