Case Study: Dark Urine after Strep Throat Answers
4.
The crystal shown below is a calcium oxalate crystal. Its
presence does correlate with the results of the patient's routine
urinalysis since calcium oxalate crystals form in an acidic urine.
The presence of crystals, if nonpathological, are based on diet.
Calcium oxalate can be formed if the patient consumes oxalate
rich foods such as tomatoes, spinach, garlic, oranges, and berries.
The conditions necessary for crystal formation are:
- the correct solute concentration (there needs to be enough salt to precipitate into crystals)
- the correct pH (in this case, calcium oxalate crystals form in acidic urine pH<7)
- the
correct temperature (crystals form when the urine is cooling, so the
urine needs to be cooling slowly enough so salt can precipitate and
form crystals)
Back to Questions