Radiologic evaluation of hematuria: guidelines from the American College of Radiology's appropriateness criteria.

Hematuria, symptomatic and incidental, that involves more than three red blood cells per high-power field on two of three properly collected urinalysis specimens warrants some type of imaging to evaluate the upper tracts. Traditionally, excretory urography or the intravenous pyelogram has been the mainstay of the hematuria work-up, but computed tomography urography has more recently been recognized to have significant advantages. Multidetector computed tomography urography, a cross-sectional technique, is less susceptible to overlying bowel gas and more sensitive for detection of small tumors and calculi. Moreover, intravenous-pyelogram-like images can be obtained by using reconstruction techniques. In specific cases, ultrasound examination and magnetic resonance imaging can also be useful, and are particularly helpful in children and pregnant women. Neither modality has the sensitivity of computed tomography for calculi, but small tumors may be visible on magnetic resonance imaging. This article reviews the appropriateness criteria for the various radiologic imaging tests used in the evaluation of hematuria, as proposed by the American College of Radiology.