Microscopic hematuria: Its correlation with cystoscopic findings in menopausal women
Backround: Patients who present with microscopic hematuria often undergo cystoscopic and histopathologic evaluation in order to rule out urothelial tumors. It was the objective of this study to valide this clinical practice among menopausal women who underwent cystoscopy at our institution.
Methods: The study is a retrospective analysis of menopausal female patients who underwent cystoscopy and bladder biopsy at our institution. Their degree of hematuria, if present, was correlated with the presence of abnormal and normal cystoscopic findings and with benign or malignant findings on biopsy.
Results: Forty patients met the inclusion criteria, with the majority at 36 having abnormal cystoscopic findings. On biopsy, only 3 patients were revealed to have malignancy, with two metastatic tumors and one case of papillary urothelial neoplasm of low malignant potential. The relationship between degree of hematuria and finding of malignancy was not noted to be statistically significant (p=0.214).
Conclusion: The study suggests that even among menopausal women, the finding of microscopic hematuria will require further urologic evaluation to rule out tumors which may or may not be urothelial in origin. It is also suggested that there is no degree of hematuria which will correspond to a cut-off point for malignancy.