Hematuria Specialist

What causes hematuria?

When you see blood in your urine, which is called gross hematuria, your urine may appear pink, red, or light brown like tea. You can also have microscopic hematuria, which is when the blood in your urine is only visible under a microscope.

In many cases, blood in your urine isn’t cause for alarm. Heavy exercise may lead to hematuria, and sometimes it may be the sign of a common urinary tract infection.

Potentially serious causes of hematuria include:

• Kidney infection
• Bladder infection
• Polycystic kidney disease
• Enlarged prostate
• Prostate infection
• Kidney stones
• Bladder stones
• Bladder cancer
• Kidney cancer

Several types of medications can also cause hematuria, such as drugs used to fight joint inflammation and blood-thinning medications.

What happens when I have hematuria?

After the doctors at Urological Associates diagnose gross or microscopic hematuria, their job is to determine the underlying cause. Your doctor thoroughly evaluates your medical history and your symptoms, performs a physical exam, and orders additional tests as needed.

You may undergo diagnostic tests such as:

• Urinalysis, to test for bacteria, chemicals, and biomarkers, like high protein
• Blood tests, to check for high levels of waste products and other biomarkers
• Intravenous pyelogram, which is a series of X-rays of your kidneys, ureters, and bladder that looks for tumors, kidney stones, and blockages
• Ultrasound, to create images of your urinary tract
• Cystoscopy, which uses a thin, flexible tube to examine the inside of your urethra and bladder

In some patients, the reason for hematuria can’t be determined.

What are the chances hematuria is due to cancer?

Hematuria alone is seldom a sign of cancer. However, visible blood in your urine combined with a history of smoking strongly increases the chance that hematuria is due to bladder or kidney cancer. You can be sure that your doctor at Urological Associates will perform all the tests necessary to rule out or confirm the presence of cancer.

How is hematuria treated?

When the underlying cause of your hematuria can’t be determined, you’ll come in for another urine test in a year or other time frame as determined by your urologist. Annual tests are repeated until you no longer have hematuria or a reason is found.

Your treatment plan is customized to take care of the cause of your hematuria. The potential treatments are just as varied as the many causes.

When you see blood in your urine, call Urological Associates or use the online booking feature to schedule an appointment.