[Clinical significance of cholesterol excretion in the urine].

Determination of urinary cholesterol has been suggested to be of possible value in the diagnosis of urogenital carcinomas especially of prostate, kidney and bladder. However, it has not been proven whether this method could be used as a screening test in large numbers of patients. 430 males and 545 females with an age above 50 years were selected for the study. Total urinary cholesterol values exceeding 5.1 mg/24 hours (regarded as positive results) were present in 13 males (3%) and 9 females (1.6%). In addition to benign diseases of the kidney and the urogenital tract, 2 carcinomas of the bladder and 1 carcinoma of the kidney were detected in the male group with elevated urinary cholesterol excretion. In view of the low prevalence of urological carcinomas and the cost of urinary cholesterol determination by GLC, this method cannot be recommended as a primary screening test, but could be of practical value in populations with microscopic haematuria and increased prevalence of urological carcinomas.