Case Study: Dark Urine after Strep Throat Answers



1. The major discrepancy between the microscopic and chemical results is the red blood cell count.  In the chemical results, the blood count is small; however, in the microscopic, there are 50-100 RBC/hpf.  This discrepancy is caused by the increase in Vitamin C (ascorbic acid).  Ascorbic acid causes the blood pad on the chemical stix to be falsely decreased because ascorbic acid competes with the reduced chromagen on the pad leading to a decreased amount of oxidized chromagen (colored).

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