A haematuria diagnostic service.

In a haematuria diagnostic service, covering experience with 95 patients, 12 new cases of cancer of the bladder, one of cancer of the kidney, and one of cancer of the penis were identified--all at an early stage. Patients presenting with haematuria were investigated rapidly without disruption of the routine work of the urological unit. Patients who identified the symptoms and sought advice early were given a definite diagnosis quickly, and treatment for any malignant disease was started early. The delay that undoubtedly endangers patients'' lives has been considerably reduced by this service.     

The prepregnancy clinic.

A prepregnancy clinic was set up to provide a single referral centre where women not yet pregnant but who were worried about problems when they became so could obtain advice. In the first 18 months 56 women attended. The outstanding feature is the concern of many women and their doctors about previous premature labour or late spontaneous abortion.     

The diagnostic value of haematuria and proteinuria in Schistosoma haematobium infection in southern Nigeria.

Haematuria and proteinuria as detected by chemical reagent strips correlated moderately (r = 0.7) with prevalence and intensity of infection with Schistosoma haematobium in an area of Anambra State, Nigeria. Differences attributable to age and sex were also reflected in a similar pattern, all peaks occurring in the 5-14 year age group. The differences observed with varying levels of intensity and haematuria at both 10 and 50 erythrocytes/microliter (p < 0.001) and proteinuria at 0.3 g/dl (p < 0.01) were statistically significant. At a proteinuria level of 1 g/dl, the observed differences were however not statistically significant (p > 0.5). The percentage of specimens from children (0-14 years) positive for S. haematobium eggs and with at least traces of haematuria and proteinuria (63.4% and 95%, respectively) was higher than in adults (33.3% and 80.2%, respectively). All individuals with more than 50 eggs/10 ml of urine were correctly identified using both indices either separately or in combination. For egg counts of less than 50 eggs/10 ml of urine, false diagnosis occurred in only 5% of all specimens examined. The sensitivity and specificity of haematuria and proteinuria at trace quantities was very high, but haematuria had a higher predictive value for a positive test (PvPt) and was considered the overall better indicator. A combination of both indices did not significantly increase the PvPt. When trace haematuria and moderate proteinuria were combined, both the sensitivity, specificity and PvPt were all above 90%, giving the best overall values in all the combinations made.