Verdoglobinuria

[Abnormal urine color assessment: The urine wheel]

Looking at the urine for diagnostic purposes, once performed by ancient Egyptians, can still provide some valuable clues in modern medicine. Several diseases have been named after their associated urine color and this underlines the clinical value of visual urine inspection: blue diaper disease, purple urine bag syndrome, black urine disease or porphyria. Abnormal urine color could be challenging for the clinician: it may reveal neoplastic disease (urologic cancer; melanoma), cell lysis (rhabdomyolysis; hemolysis), infection (lymphatic filariasis; malaria), enzyme deficiency (porphyria; alkaptonuria), medication or food intake. In this article, we present the diagnostic approach, the mechanisms involved and the main causes of abnormal urine color.

Hulk-Like Urine: A Case of Green Urine Caused by Flupirtine Intoxication

Acute intoxications are common causes of admission to the Emergency Department (ED). Flupirtine is a non-opioid analgesic, originally used for acute and chronic pain. Because of several reports of severe liver toxicity, its use was limited to acute pain in 2013 by the European Medicines Agency. Although withdrawn from the European market in March 2018, there are still flupirtine tablets in many households, and most people are unaware of the hazards they might be facing. A 58-year-old man was admitted to the ED after a suicide attempt with 1 g of flupirtine. He was lethargic and confused but presented no focal neurological deficits or other symptoms, and the rest of his clinical examination was unremarkable. His cerebral CAT and blood chemistry showed no alterations. The only remarkable feature was that he had green urine. After a careful literature search, a similar case was found caused by flupirtine intoxication. After 24 hours of vigilance in the ED, he improved his neurological status and his urine lost part of its greenish color. He was then transferred to the Psychiatric Department, where he presented a complete remission of the clinical alterations. A follow-up check-up showed no permanent deficits.

A girl with headache, confusion and green urine

The case of a 17-year-old girl with a history of headache, blurred vision, confusion, ataxia and syncope is presented. On admission, she had already recovered except for a slurring of speech. Her urine was found to be green. Screening for illegal drugs was negative, but gas chromatography with subsequent mass spectroscopy (GC-MS) revealed an extremely high concentration of flupirtine.