Trace of blood in urine test

[worried416]

I am a 39 year old male in what I feel is general good health.  Went for a physical a month ago and they detected a trace of blood in my urine  -  they repeated the test and said it was less but come back in 3 weeks  -  I did and there was still a trace  -  I have never seen blood and have no problems  -  I saw  a urologist   who felt "to be sure" I needed  an ultra sound  -  then I had a cystoscopy -  both were clear  -  but they are sending the sample from the cystoscopy urine for furthur testing.   I'm not used to seeing Drs  - I spoke to another patient who has had "everything" checked and nothing was found  -  is this common?  What else should be checked  -  they said if the specimen is also clean -  repeat testing in 6 months  -  this is alot of time to continue worrying  = when do you consideer it just something your body does?

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,
As I had mentioned before we need to rule out any tumors as well. So the sample has been sent for examination. Another possibility is of sickle cell disorder. Sickle cell disease is an inherited disorder in which red blood cells (RBCs) are abnormally shaped. I suggest you to discuss this possibility also with your urologist.

I sincerely hope that helps. Take care and please do keep me posted on how you are doing.

[worried416]

Thank you for your comments  -   I did have the ultrasound done as well  -  it was negative.   After my cystocopy on Friday, the Urologist said, just to be safe, we are going to send the urine sample to be checked for cancer cells.   I do not understand why they didn't do that before  -  I have given 5 specimens in about a month  -  is this a normal progression of things?  I was relieved that the ultra & cysto  were negative  -  but, now I have to continue to wait and it seems the specimen should have been sent before  -  maybe that would have eliminated putting me thru these tests  -  which also cost me quite a bit of money for my co-pays.  I do not have experience w/ medical procedures  -  any additional comments would really help me to understand all of this
Thank you

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,
Since you are having microscopic hematuria, so definitely its cause needs to be probed. Microscopic hematuria can be due to urinary tract (bladder) infection, swelling in the filtering system of the kidneys ,stone in bladder or in a kidney, blood disease, like sickle cell anemia, certain medicines and tumors in the urinary tract.

You have already undergone cystoscopy which has ruled out most of the cases. I suggest you to get done an ultrasound abdomen to look for any kidney stone and blood tests for sickle cell anemia.
I hope it helps. Take care and please do keep us posted on how you are doing. Kind regards.