Steinstrasse is German for “street of stones ", a term coined in the 1980’s by Egbert Schmiedt and Christian Chaussy, the pioneers of extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL). The word describes a possible complication of ESWL for urinary tract calculi in which stone fragments block the ureter to form a “street of stones”.
A stone street can sometimes be seen in the biliary tree during ERCP:
A 22 year old lady presented with jaundice and vomiting. An ultrasound scan showed stones in the gallbladder and bile duct. An ERCP at another hospital showed a bulging papilla but cannulation was unsuccessful. She was referred for a further ERCP (see video)... |