Pitfalls in the diagnosis of hematuria

What is it about?

Detection of blood in urine (hematuria) is characterized by a large number of pitfalls. Doctors must be aware of these pitfalls since they may lead to medical overconsumption or incorrect diagnosis. Use of vacuum tubes or urine tubes containing preservatives can affect test results. In laboratories, hematuria can be assayed using either test strips or particle-counting techniques. In cases of doubtful results, adulteration of the urine specimen should be excluded. Pigmenturia can be confused with hematuria. The test strip can be affected by the presence of non-Hb peroxidases. Urinary pH, haptoglobin, and urine osmolality may affect test strip results. The implementation of expert systems may be helpful in detecting preanalytical and analytical errors in the assessment of hematuria. Correcting for dilution may be useful for heavily concentrated or diluted urine samples. 

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