Among patients with recurrent kidney stones, the rate of recurrence did not vary significantly for patients treated with hydrochlorothiazide versus placebo, according to results published in The New England Journal of Medicine. Daniel G. Fuster,
MD, and colleagues examined 416 patients with recurrent kidney stones randomly assigned to hydrochlorothiazide 12.5 mg, 25 mg, or 50 mg once daily or placebo once daily. A primary end-point event occurred in 59% of the placebo group, 59% of the 12.5 mg group (rate ratio [RR] vs placebo, 1.33, 56% of the 25 mg group (RR, 1.24), and 49% of the 50 mg group (RR, 0.92). The researchers observed no relationship between the hydrochlorothiazide dose and the occurrence of a primary endpoint event. Hypokalemia, gout, new-onset diabetes mellitus, skin allergy, and a plasma creatinine level exceeding 150% were more common among patients who received hydrochlorothiazide than among those who received placebo.
