Association of hematuria and mycobacterial infection

Hematuria has been noted to be a presenting symptom of urinary tuberculosis. In the last few decades because of the decreasing incidence of tuberculosis in the United States, the association of tuberculosis and hematuria has been neglected. Now that the incidence of tuberculosis is again on the rise, it is timely to remind the medical community of this association. We present 3 children with hematuria associated with positive tuberculin tests. Mycobacterium tuberculosis was cultured from the urine of one patient. Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare was cultured from a second patient. All 3 patients showed clearing of their hematuria with antituberculosis therapy. A tuberculin test should once again be considered part of the standard work-up of hematuria.