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Middle-Aged Woman with Dark Urine


6. Foods such as red beets cause urine to be dark red. How can the laboratory professional rule this out as a source of false positive on the stix?

Beets will cause urine to be dark red, which could cause pads such as urobilinogen to be a false positive. If the urine had been so dark it colored everything, then it would have colored all reagent pads as well. If only the urobilinogen is deeply colored, it is possible to report out the results and be confident they are not falsely positive due to color contamination.

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A 35 year old woman went to the doctor complaining of fatigue, shortness of breath, and dark urine. Her skin was very pale, and the whites of her eyes were slightly yellow. She reported recently having a sinus infection which was treated with penicillin. Urinalysis results are:

Color
dark red/brown
Protein
100mg/dL (2+)
Blood
large
Appearance
clear
Glucose
negative
Urobilinogen
12.0 EU
Sp. Gravity
1.020
Ketones
negative
Nitrite
negative
pH
8.0
Bilirubin
negative
Leukocyte
negative

Microscopic
amorphous 2+
hemosiderin granules present

Upon receiving the urinalysis results, the physician orders a blood test for haptoglobin which comes back less than 5 mg/dL (reference range = 26-185 mg/dL).



   





Colleen Carey | Honors Urinalysis | Fall 2005