Detection of glomerular bleeding by urinary-red-cell-size distribution.

Midstream urine specimens from 60 consecutive patients with hematuria were examined with an autoanalyzer to determine whether the source of bleeding could be predicted on the basis of the size distribution of urinary red blood cells. In 54 patients a definite diagnosis was made which correlated with the urinary-red-cell-size distribution in 93.7% (15/16) of cases for whom hematuria was considered to be glomerular and in 100% (38/38) of cases of nonglomerular hematuria. It is concluded that this method can greatly help the clinician in distinguishing between glomerular and nonglomerular bleeding in patients with hematuria and channeling such patients towards the most appropriate investigations.