Interpretation

An elevated urine oxalate (>0.46 mmol/day) may suggest disease states such as secondary hyperoxaluria (fat malabsorption), primary hyperoxaluria (alanine glyoxalate transferase enzyme deficiency, glyceric dehydrogenase deficiency), idiopathic hyperoxaluria, or excess dietary oxalate or vitamin C intake.

In stone-forming patients high urinary oxalate values, sometimes even in the upper limit of the normal range, are treated to reduce the risk of stone formation.

The urinary oxalate creatinine ratio varies widely in young children from <0.35 mmol/mL at birth to <0.15 mmol/mL at 1 year to <0.10 mmol/mL at 10 years and <0.05 mmol/mL at 20 years of age (see table below).(1)