A b s t r a c t: The content of Pb, Cd, Ni, Fe, Na and K was determined in sixteen samples of urinary calculi taken from patients in Macedonia. The trace elements were determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometry and by flame emission spectrometry. The chemometric examination of the calculi was done by factor analysis. This chemometric method has been extensively used for classification purposes while solving different multidimensional problems. The results obtained from the analysis revealed that the highest correlation exists between the concentrations of lead and potassium. No significant correlation among other analyzed elements was found. The examination of the first two principal components (with 67 % variance captured) calculated from the autoscaled data matrix showed a clear separation between the composition of the calculi taken from male and from female patients, especially in the case of the calculi consisting of the two oxalates (whewellite and weddelite) and those composed of carbonate apatite in mixture with oxalates.
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