Traditionally, the approach toward patients who present with staghorn calculi has started and ended with surgery.
Mount Sinai has developed a more comprehensive, patient-centered approach to care that is focused on understanding the root causes of the disease by pioneering new treatments and developing customized postoperative regimens that reduce the risk of redevelopment, resulting in improved outcomes.
Patients who present with staghorn calculi first undergo a full imaging workup with a computed tomography (CT) scan to determine the position of the kidney relative to their major organs and ribs and thus mitigate the risk of complications such as a fistula or pneumothorax, according to Mantu Gupta, MD, Professor of Urology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. The CT scan also facilitates three-dimensional (3D) reconstructed imaging of the kidney, enabling Dr. Gupta to ascertain the shape of the staghorn calculi and plan the best surgical approach.
