title: Evaluation of the patient with hematuria.
abstract: There is little controversy regarding whether gross or visible hematuria requires complete upper and lower urinary tract evaluation. With regard to microscopic hematuria, investigators have disagreed on precisely which patients require a complete work-up. Most agree that older patients (> 40 years), patients with a history of cigarette use, and those with occupational exposure or history of chronic phenacetin use should absolutely undergo upper tract imaging, cystourethroscopy, and cytologic examination of the urine in addition to a thorough history and physical examination. A multidisciplinary group of oncologists, radiologists, urologists, and internists has published its recommendations as part of the American Urological Association best practice policy. The formal guidelines, which were distributed, rereviewed, and modified following a nationwide survey of clinicians, recommend complete urologic evaluation for all patients with microscopic hematuria who are over 40 years of age, and younger patients with a history suspicious for urologic disease. This identifies those at highest risk for malignancy while minimizing the number of evaluations in patients unlikely harboring significant disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, University of California at San Francisco, 400 Parnassus Avenue, Room A633, San Francisco, CA 94122, USA. edwyu@itsa.ucsf.edu
authors.forename: Edward J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Yun
authors.forename: Maxwell V
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Meng
authors.forename: Peter R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Carroll
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D003950:Diagnostic Techniques, Urological; D006417:Hematuria / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans