title: Urinary lactic dehydrogenase as a marker of renal injury in blunt trauma patients with hematuria.
abstract: We evaluated the use of urinary lactic dehydrogenase (LDH) in predicting renal injury in a convenience sample of 36 blunt trauma patients with hematuria. The mean +/- SEM urinary LDH for the five patients with renal injuries was 129.4 +/- 35 U/L, which was not significantly different from the mean urinary LDH levels in either the 22 patients without demonstrable genitourinary or retroperitoneal injuries (92.9 +/- 20.7 U/L) or the nine patients with nonrenal genitourinary or retroperitoneal injuries (165 +/- 46 U/L). Urinary LDH at a threshold of 135 U/L was more specific (75% vs 53%, P less than .01) and more accurate (74% vs 57%, P less than .01) than hematuria at a threshold of 50 red blood cells per high-power field in predicting lacerations of the kidney or ureter; urinary LDH was less sensitive than hematuria at these thresholds (67% vs 100%), but not significantly. We conclude that urinary LDH is a nonspecific marker of cellular disruption anywhere along the genitourinary tract in otherwise healthy blunt trauma patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance 90509.
authors.forename: P L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Henneman
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bar'Or
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Marx
mesh_terms: D000007:Abdominal Injuries / Q000652:urine*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006417:Hematuria / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D007668:Kidney / Q000293:injuries*; D007770:L-Lactate Dehydrogenase / Q000652:urine*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014513:Ureter / Q000293:injuries; D014949:Wounds, Nonpenetrating / Q000652:urine*
chemical_list: D007770:L-Lactate Dehydrogenase