Fig. 1

Morphology and composition of renal tubular crystal deposits in stone formers (SFs) and non-stone formers (NSFs). a Crystal attachment to the tubular walls detected by polarized light optical microphotography of hematoxylin and eosin-stained renal cortex sections (magnification, × 800). b Crystal attachment to the tubular walls detected by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of the crystal ultrastructure. c Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) of the mineral components on the surface of SEM-detected crystal deposits. The EDX spectrum shows calcium as the main component of the deposits