Hematuria

Hematuria
Microscopic hematuria
Classification and external resources
Specialty	Nephrology, urology
ICD-10	N02, R31
ICD-9-CM	599.7, 791.2
DiseasesDB	19635
MedlinePlus	003138
eMedicine	ped/951
Patient UK	Hematuria
MeSH	D006417
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In medicine, hematuria, or haematuria, is the presence of red blood cells (erythrocytes) in the urine. It may be idiopathic and/or benign, or it can be a sign that there is a kidney stone or a tumor in the urinary tract (kidneys, ureters, urinary bladder, prostate, and urethra), ranging from trivial to lethal. If white blood cells are found in addition to red blood cells, then it is a signal of urinary tract infection.

Occasionally "hemoglobinuria" is used synonymously, although more precisely it refers only to hemoglobin in the urine.

Red discoloration of the urine can have various causes:

Sometimes the cause of hematuria can be elucidated solely on the basis of the medical history and urine testing, or urinalysis. This is especially true for young people, in whom the risk of malignancy is very low. For example, in a young woman who is found to have hematuria along with a simple urinary tract infection, she likely only needs antibiotics for her UTI, and does not need further workup for her hematuria. Similarly, high-intensity exercise can occasionally cause hematuria. As such, an athlete with blood in their urine after vigorous exercise usually just needs a repeat urine test.

For patients with suspected kidney stones, a common cause of hematuria, CT scanning or Ultrasound is often the first step. For most other patients with continued, unexplained hematuria, because of the risk of cancer of the bladder, prostate, ureters, or kidney is a concern, further imaging is usually done. This includes directly looking at the urethra and bladder with cystoscopy and more sensitive radiographic imaging with computed tomography urography.

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