What Causes Hematuria?
Hematuria a sign not disease need workup & consult
Detailed Answer:
Thank you for asking!
Hematuria has multiple etiologies and needs a little workup and management to sort out the cause. You have geriatric age limits and a history of rheumatological conditions which themselves are great trigger for nephropathy. Here are some possibilities for hematuria which are mostly divided into either glomerular or extra glomerular cause.
The first step in the evaluation of hematuria consists of a detailed history and a thorough physical examination. Efforts should be made to distinguish glomerular causes from extraglomerular ones, as follows:
Passage of clots in urine suggests an extraglomerular cause
Fever, abdominal pain, dysuria, frequency, and recent enuresis in older children may point to a urinary tract infection as the cause
Recent trauma to the abdomen may be indicative of hydronephrosis
Early-morning periorbital puffiness, weight gain, oliguria, dark-colored urine, and edema or hypertension suggest a glomerular cause
Hematuria due to glomerular causes is painless
Recent throat or skin infection may suggest postinfectious glomerulonephritis
Joint pains, skin rashes, and prolonged fever in adolescents suggest a collagen vascular disorder
Anemia cannot be accounted for by hematuria alone; in a patient with hematuria and pallor, other conditions should be considered
Skin rashes and arthritis can occur in Henoch-Schönlein purpura and systemic lupus erythematosus
Information regarding exercise, menstruation, recent bladder catheterization, intake of certain drugs or toxic substances, or passage of a calculus may also assist in the differential diagnosis
A family history that is suggestive of Alport syndrome, collagen vascular diseases, urolithiasis, or polycystic kidney disease is important
Physical examination should include the following:
Measurement of the blood pressure (with an appropriately sized cuff)
Evaluation for the presence of periorbital puffiness or peripheral edema
Detailed skin examination to look for purpura.
Abdominal examination to look for palpable kidneys
Careful examination of the genitalia
Detailed ophthalmologic evaluation (in familial hematuria)
The following findings help distinguish between glomerular and nonglomerular hematuria:
Glomerular hematuria: Brown-colored urine, RBC casts, and dysmorphic (small, deformed, misshapen, sometimes fragmented) RBCs and proteinuria
Nonglomerular hematuria: Reddish or pink urine, passage of blood clots, and eumorphic (normal-sized, biconcavely shaped) erythrocytes
You need a little work up and management accordingly.
Here are some of the management plans for hematuria
Hematuria is a sign and not itself a disease; thus, therapy should be directed at the process causing it
Asymptomatic (isolated) hematuria generally does not require treatment
In conditions associated with abnormal clinical, laboratory, or imaging studies, treatment may be necessary, as appropriate, with the primary diagnosis
Surgical intervention may be necessary with certain anatomic abnormalities (eg, ureteropelvic junction obstruction, tumor, or significant urolithiasis)
Dietary modification is usually not indicated, except for children who may tend to develop hypertension or edema as a result of the primary disease process (eg, nephritis)
Patients with persistent microscopic hematuria should be monitored every 6-12 months for the appearance of signs or symptoms indicative of progressive renal disease
I hope it helps. Seek a rheumatologist and let them sort it out for you.Hematuria itself is not a disease rather an emblem of underlying one. Lets wait for the appointment and hope for the best.
It needs a complete clinical correlation to establish a diagnosis here.
I hope you see it in a right perspective. Seek a nephrologist and urologist and let a complete renal functional profile be assessed.
Take care of yourself and dont forget to close the discussion please.
Regards
S Khan