[Idiopathic hematuria in childhood (author's transl)]

Idiopathic hematuria is a clinical condition of unknown etiology; it is defined as persistent or recurrent, macro or microscopic hematuria in the absence of systemic or local disease and with normal renal function. Six patients who had these criterions were studied. There were all girls. The age of the first episode was between one and four years. There was no other family or personal history of renal disease or deafness. Only two patients had their episodes of macroscopic hematuria within flu-like illness or exercise. All had normal renal function and no proteinuria was found. Serum C'3 and C'4 were normal. Microscopic and immunofluorescence studies were negative. We remark the convenience of a triple criteria clinical, histopathologic and evolutive to select a patient into the "idiopathic hematuria" group. We comment the usefullness of renal biopsy in the investigation of unexplained hematuria.