REPEAT TESTING FOR HEMATURIA AND UNDERLYING UROLOGICAL PATHOLOGY

Objective To assess the incidence of urological pathology in a group o f patients referred for the investigation of haematuria and whose symp toms had resolved at the time of investigation. Patients and methods T he results from examination of 395 patients attending for investigatio n of haematuria were analysed. The group comprised 198 men and 197 wom en with a mean age of 51 years (range 19-73). Results In 220 patients (56%) no evidence of haematuria was detected despite its diagnosis in all patients at the time of referral. One-hundred and thirteen patient s (51%) without detectable haematuria had urological pathology and 16 of these (14%) had an underlying malignancy in the urinary tract. Conc lusion Repeat urine analysis to determine whether haematuria persists has been considered as a way to define a high risk group which require s urgent investigation. Our results clearly indicate that the finding of haematuria, even in one urine specimen, warrants full urological as sessment.