New world record as man has largest ever kidney stone removed

Guinness World Records announced yesterday that a record-breaking kidney stone has been removed from a patient.

A 62-year-old retired soldier from Sri Lanka, Canistus Coonghe, has an enormous kidney stone successfully removed with has broken not one but two records, according to Guinness World Records, June 15.

The offending stone was actually larger than Mr Coonghe’s kidney and measured an eye-watering 13.37 cm (5.26 in) x 10.55 cm (4.15 in) and is officially the world’s largest kidney stone ever recorded. It was also the world’s heaviest kidney stone, weighing in at 800 g (1.76 lb).

The previous records were held by Vilas Ghuge from India in 20004 for the largest stone, and the heaviest was set by Wazir Muhammad of Pakistan in 2008.

The operation was performed by Dr Kugadas Sutharshan at the Army Hospital, Colombo, Sri Lanka on June 1. The procedure is called an open pyelolithotomy, whereby the stone was surgically removed from his right kidney.

Fortunately for Mr Coonghe, his kidney was still functioning normally despite the cumbersome blockage. According to reports, the patient is now well on his way to recovery

Kidney stones are crystallised deposits which form in the kidney and are usually the size of a small pebble. However, on occasion, they can come in much bigger sizes as conclusively proved by Mr Coonghe.

Other weird kidney stone world records include Dhanraj Wadile from India, who had a grand total of 172,155 kidney stones removed in 2009.

And in 2006, it was reported that Star Trek actor Willian Shatner sold a kidney stone that he had passed the previous year for $25,000 (£12,700) to an online casino. He later gave the money to a housing charity.