VIENNA, AUSTRIA (UroToday.com) - Diagnostic and therapeutic management is probably not standardized enough.
Between 1999 and 2007 a total of 1,804 patients with visible hematuria were screened. Median age was 67 years and the male/female ratio was 4.8:1. All patients underwent cystoscopy and upper tract imaging with ultrasound, intravenous urogram and urine cytology. Contrast enhanced computed tomography was performed when indicated. No pathology was found in 53.5% of patients. Transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder or upper urinary tract was found in 18% and 0.4%, respectively. Kidney cancer, prostate cancer or metastatic disease was present in 2.2%, 0.6% and 0.2%. The remaining patients had benign pathology such as cystitis, calculi and others. 202/965 patients with no diagnosis responded to a postal questionnaire. 41/202 patients reported recurrent hematuria and in 21/41 patients a significant urological diagnosis. The conclusion was that all patients with visible hematuria require investigation to exclude malignancy or benign pathology with the need for further therapy.
This trial provides excellent data that hematuria is serious in a relevant number of cases and work-up should the entire urological armamentarium.
Presented by Said F. Mishriki, MD, et al. at the 26th Annual European Association of Urology (EAU) Congress - March 18 - 21, 2011 - Austria Centre Vienna, Vienna, Austria
Reported for UroToday by Christian Doehn, MD, PhD, Department of Urology, University of Lübeck Medical School, Lübeck Germany.
View EAU 2011 Annual Meeting Coverage