Causes of microhaematuria in an Austrian general practice

In order to determine whether patients with microhaematuria seen in general practice should be followed up in order to establish an aetiological diagnosis, a study was performed in a general practice in Vienna. Over a period of 2 1/2 years 87 patients with haematuria were found by a systematic procedure among a clientele of 2500 persons. This gives a one-year incidence rate of about seven per 1 000. By systematic investigation, three main groups of patients could be found: patients with microhaematuria and additional leukocyturia and bacteriuria (40%), most of them needing no further investigation after treatment of their urine infection; patients with microhaematuria showing different degrees of pathological changes after a complete urological check-up (43%); patients where the complete checkup did not reveal any aetiological diagnosis (13%).