Ok why do kidney stones show on ultrasound but not x-rays? There's white spots in ultrasound but not x-ray.

Question:

Ok why are the kidney stones showing on ultrasound but not x-rays? There's white spots maybe indicating kidney stones in ultrasound but not x-ray or KUB.

Answers:
Depending on what they're made of, some kidney stones are "radiolucent," they don't show up on xrays because the xrays pass through them. Others are "radio opaque" and do show up. Uric acid stones are radiolucent, and are also the second most common type of kidney stones. Cystine stones are also radiolucent.

The most common type of stone, calcium carbonate, oxalate, or phosphate, is radio opaque, and depending on the size, will show up on an xray. The density of the kidney tissue is not a factor.

I could be wrong, but I think the kidney is too dense to be seen through with an exray.
an ultra sound is more like sound waves that bounce off of solid things....like kidney stones

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Ok why do kidney stones show on ultrasound but not x-rays? There's white spots in ultrasound but not x-ray.

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