Hydronephrosis laboratory findings

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Chandrakala Yannam, MD [2]

Overview

Some patients with hydronephrosis may have elevated WBC count, serum creatinine, BUN, potassium levels and pyuria.

Laboratory Findings

Patients with hydronephrosis may show following findings on laboratory tests. These include:^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]

Complete blood count (CBC):
- Elevated WBC count may indicate the presence of infection.
- Anemia
Elevated serum creatinine
- Suggestive of bilateral obstruction or unilateral obstruction and an underlying kidney disease
Anuria and acute kidney injury (AKI)
Elevated BUN
Elevated serum potassium levels (hyperkalemia)
Urinalysis and cultures: It may show red blood cells and white blood cells indicating hematuria and pyuria.
- Hematuria is commonly caused by stones or due to tumors.
- Pyuria indicates an evidence of infection.
- Urinary cultures are helpful in identifying infection.

References

↑ Onuigbo MA (October 2009). “Symptomatic uraemia from bilateral obstructive uropathy secondary to metastatic urinary bladder cancer showing only unilateral hydronephrosis: a case report”. NDT Plus. 2 (5): 387–9. doi:10.1093/ndtplus/sfp093. PMC 4421382. PMID 25949352.
↑ Batlle DC, Arruda JA, Kurtzman NA (February 1981). “Hyperkalemic distal renal tubular acidosis associated with obstructive uropathy”. N. Engl. J. Med. 304 (7): 373–80. doi:10.1056/NEJM198102123040701. PMID 7453754.
↑ Maletz R, Berman D, Peelle K, Bernard D (December 1993). “Reflex anuria and uremia from unilateral ureteral obstruction”. Am. J. Kidney Dis. 22 (6): 870–3. PMID 8250035.
↑ Hayashi K, Horikoshi S, Hirano K, Shirato I, Tomino Y (October 1996). “A case of reflex anuria and uremia related to a unilateral ureteral stone”. Nihon Jinzo Gakkai Shi. 38 (10): 460–2. PMID 8940828.
↑ Hull JD, Kumar S, Pletka PG (February 1980). “Reflex anuria from unilateral ureteral obstruction”. J. Urol. 123 (2): 265–6. PMID 7354536.

Overview