Evaluation and management of hematuria

Medications mostly associated with hematuria: assessment of the EudraVigilance and Food and Drug Administration pharmacovigilance databases entries

BACKGROUND

Drugs may have a direct causative role in triggering hematuria. The range of medications which may be responsible for hematuria is wide, but little is known on those which are most frequently involved. The aim of our study was to identify and compare drugs mostly related with hematuria.

METHODS

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) database and the EudraVigilance (EV) database were queried to identify the drugs which were associated the most with hematuria individual reports till 30 September 2021. Rivaroxaban, aspirin, warfarin sodium, clopidogrel bisulfate, dabigatran etexilate mesylate, apixaban, warfarin, cyclophosphamide, lansoprazole, enoxaparin sodium, and ibuprofen were analyzed. Analysis per gender, age and severity was performed. Disproportional analysis was performed to compare drugs.

RESULTS

Overall, 15,687 reports of hematuria were recorded in the FDA database and 15 007 in the EV database. Rivaroxaban and Warfarin appear to be the most dangerous medications in terms of hematuria when compared to the other medications (PRR>1, P<0.05) while apixaban is the safest one (PRR<1, P<0.05) when compared to the other medications. In terms of severity only 162/15 007 (1.08%) were fatal. Between the drugs analyzed cyclophosphamide 7.2%, enoxaparin (3%) and dabigatran (2.5%) presented a higher number of fatal hematuria episodes when compared to the other drugs (<1%).

CONCLUSIONS

Anticoagulants and antiplatelets are more frequently related to hematuria episodes however some differences exist between them. Particularly warfarin and rivaroxaban should be prescribed with caution in patients at increased risk of hematuria. Prescribers should inform those treated with these medications about the risk of hematuria and its sequelae.

Association between gingival bleeding and hematuria as biomarkers of periodontitis and renal disease: a review

Gingival bleeding is a common complaint and symptom in patients with periodontitis. In clinics, gingival bleeding is regarded as an important sign of gingival inflammation, which is also of great significance in predicting the activity of periodontitis. Existing research has indicated that periodontitis has an impact on distant sites, such as the kidney. Hematuria is the principal feature of glomerular disease, which can reflect the degree and condition of glomerular inflammation. Previous studies have revealed an association between periodontal diseases with renal diseases, so a study is necessary to discuss their representative signs of them. For the moment, there are no reports that are concerned about the correlation between gingival bleeding with hematuria. The main point of this text is to review the potential association between gingival bleeding with hematuria, reveal their underlying mechanisms, and provide instructions for the therapy of periodontitis and glomerular diseases.

Hematuria at dipstick on first versus second morning voiding: A screening for patients with persistent isolated hematuria?

BACKGROUND

In our clinical practice we observed that -differently from patients with defined glomerulopathies- children with persistent isolated microscopic hematuria (PImH) usually shows at dipstick on first compared with second morning voiding lower degree of hematuria. We hypothesized that comparison of hematuria degree between first and second morning voiding (dipstick comparison test) could help in selection of patients needing of specific investigations. In this study, we aimed preliminarily validating our hypothesis.

METHODS

To define the risk of active glomerulopathies we used patients with defined glomerulopathies as cases. We prospectively enrolled 103 children during a one-year period. Sixty-nine of them had PImH, 16 microscopic/macroscopic hematuria (mMH), and 18 defined glomerulopathies. Inclusion criteria were: 1) persistent microscopic hematuria (≥1+ at dipstick) with or without defined glomerulopathy and/or previous episodes of macroscopic hematuria; 2) for the patients without defined glomerulopathy, having made regular biannual follow-up visits for at least 2 years in our department; 3) normal renal function and blood pressure at enrollment visit. We compared hematuria degree between first and second morning voiding. Possible findings were absence (NH), less degree (LH), similar degree (SH), and higher degree (HH) of hematuria in the first compared with second voiding.

RESULTS

At dipstick comparison test, 27.2% of patients presented NH, 44.7% LH, 28.1% SH, and none HH. NH showed specificity and PPV of 100% and significant area under receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC = 0.66; 95%CI:0.55-0.78; p = 0.03) for absence of defined glomerulopathies. LH showed better sensitivity (76.9% Vs 33%) and NPV (78.9% Vs 24%) and lower specificity (88.2% Vs 100%) and PPV (87.0% Vs 100%) than NH for absence of defined glomerulopathies. Moreover, the LH showed a non-significant AUROC curve for presence of defined glomerulopathies. SH showed specificity of 80%, NPV of 91.9% and significant AUROC curve for presence of defined glomerulopathies (0.67; 95%CI:0.55-0.80; p = 0.009). The ROC curve analysis examining the delta of hematuria degree comparing first with second morning urine voiding showed a significant AUROC curve (AUROC = 0.78; 95%CI,0.68-0.89; p = 0.0002) with delta ≤ 1 showing the best sensitivity (80%) and specificity (66.7%) for defined glomerulopathies. None of the patients with defined glomerulopathies presented NH. Having SH presented relative risk for defined glomerulopathy of 5.1 (95%CI:1.9-13.6; p = 0.0007). Conversely, taken together NH and LH the RR was 0.2 (95%CI 0.1-0.5; p = 0.0007).

INTERPRETATIONS

The dipstick on the first urine voiding underestimates the hematuria in about 70% of patients. The dipstick comparison test might easily screen patients with PImH and mMH needing of further investigations and treatment.

Current Concepts in the Management of Muscle Invasive Bladder Cancer

Bladder cancer is the ninth most common cancer in the world. Twenty to twenty-five percent of all newly diagnosed bladder cancers are muscle invasive in nature, and further, 20-25% of patients who are diagnosed with high-risk non-muscle invasive disease will eventually progress to muscle invasive disease in due course of time irrespective of adjuvant intravesical therapies. Availability of newer imaging modalities improves appropriate identification of patients with muscle invasive disease. Radical cystectomy remains the mainstay of treatment for management of muscle invasive disease. Availability of neoadjuvant chemotherapy has improved overall survival. Risk stratification systems are now in consideration to identify patients who benefit maximally from neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Urinary diversion is a major cause of morbidity in these patients, and several strategies are being employed to reduce morbidity. In this article, we review available literature on various aspects of management of muscle invasive disease.

A segregation index combining phenotypic (clinical characteristics) and genotypic (gene expression) biomarkers from a urine sample to triage out patients presenting with hematuria who have a low probability of urothelial carcinoma

Background

Hematuria can be symptomatic of urothelial carcinoma (UC) and ruling out patients with benign causes during primary evaluation is challenging. Patients with hematuria undergoing urological work-ups place significant clinical and financial burdens on healthcare systems. Current clinical evaluation involves processes that individually lack the sensitivity for accurate determination of UC. Algorithms and nomograms combining genotypic and phenotypic variables have largely focused on cancer detection and failed to improve performance. This study aimed to develop and validate a model incorporating both genotypic and phenotypic variables with high sensitivity and a high negative predictive value (NPV) combined to triage out patients with hematuria who have a low probability of having UC and may not require urological work-up.

Methods

Expression of IGFBP5, HOXA13, MDK, CDK1 and CXCR2 genes in a voided urine sample (genotypic) and age, gender, frequency of macrohematuria and smoking history (phenotypic) data were collected from 587 patients with macrohematuria. Logistic regression was used to develop predictive models for UC. A combined genotypic-phenotypic model (G + P INDEX) was compared with genotypic (G INDEX) and phenotypic (P INDEX) models. Area under receiver operating characteristic curves (AUC) defined the performance of each INDEX: high sensitivity, NPV >0.97 and a high test-negative rate was considered optimal for triaging out patients. The robustness of the G + P INDEX was tested in 40 microhematuria patients without UC.

Results

The G + P INDEX offered a bias-corrected AUC of 0.86 compared with 0.61 and 0.83, for the P and G INDEXs respectively. When the test-negative rate was 0.4, the G + P INDEX (sensitivity = 0.95; NPV = 0.98) offered improved performance compared with the G INDEX (sensitivity = 0.86; NPV = 0.96). 80% of patients with microhematuria who did not have UC were correctly triaged out using the G + P INDEX, therefore not requiring a full urological work-up.

Conclusion

The adoption of G + P INDEX enables a significant change in clinical utility. G + P INDEX can be used to segregate hematuria patients with a low probability of UC with a high degree of confidence in the primary evaluation. Triaging out low-probability patients early significantly reduces the need for expensive and invasive work-ups, thereby lowering diagnosis-related adverse events and costs.

Relationships of urinary VEGF/CR and IL-6/CR with glomerular pathological injury in asymptomatic hematuria patients

BACKGROUND

Interleukin-6 (IL-6) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) have important functions in injury and repair processes of glomerular intrinsic cells. A study was conducted to analyze the urinary VEGF/creatinine (CR) and IL-6/CR levels in simple hematuria patients after excluding the interference of creatinine. We aimed to investigate the function and relationships of the above indices in the glomerular pathological injury process, and to elaborate the values of urinary VEGF and IL-6 changes in the diagnosis of asymptomatic hematuria or hematuria with proteinuria.

MATERIAL/METHODS

A total of 121 renal hematuria patients diagnosed by clinical and laboratory tests were included as research subjects. The midstream fresh morning urine was collected on the day renal biopsy was performed.

RESULTS

The IL-6/CR value of the group III was significantly greater than in group I (Z=-2.478, P<0.05), with a statistically significant difference between these 2 groups. The VEGF/CR value of group III was significantly greater than in group II (P<0.01). Compared with group I, the VEGF/CR of group III was significantly greater (Z=-4.65, P<0.01), with a statistically significant difference.

CONCLUSIONS

The VEGF/CR and IL-6/CR values in simple hematuria patients were positively correlated with glomerular pathological injury scores. VEGF/CR and IL-6/CR might be used as biological diagnostic indicators in determining the extent of simple hematuria glomerular injury.

Higher prevalence of nephropathy in young Roma females compared with non-Roma females

OBJECTIVES

Ethnic differences in the prevalence of various chronic diseases, including end-stage renal disease, have been previously reported. Surprisingly, data focusing on the lower grade of chronic kidney disease (CKD) are scarce. Thus, the aim of this study was to explore differences in the prevalence of nephropathy between the Roma and non-Roma populations.

METHODS

Data from the cross-sectional population based HepaMeta study conducted in Slovakia were used. Nephropathy was defined as: a known history of any kidney disease; or the presence of proteinuria/hematuria; or glomerular filtration rate (GFR) < 60 ml/min. The odds ratio for the prevalence of nephropathy was calculated using binary logistic regression.

RESULTS

In an age-adjusted model, Roma females had OR of 1.56 for having nephropathy over non-Roma females (OR 1.56; 95% CI 1.01-2.42; p < 0.05). In addition, Roma females had a significantly lower GFR (mean difference 3.4 ml/min, t = -3.58, p < 0.001); all female patients with proteinuria were Roma.

CONCLUSIONS

This cross-sectional study on the young general population found that Roma females have half-higher odds for nephropathy than non-Roma females. Therefore, to prevent risks we should focus on searching for ethnic, social and medical determinants of CKD. Interventions to decrease the incidence of CKD in the target population should also address ethnic inequalities as well as female gender.