Data from a large South Korean cohort show a five-fold increased risk of incident chronic kidney disease (CKD) for adults with persistent haematuria, compared with those with no haematuria.
They also found that the association was significantly stronger in men, in comparison to women.
Haematuria, which refers to the presence of blood in the urine, has been reported to be associated with increased risk of CKD.
However, the relationship between haematuria that persists over time and kidney function is not clear.
In this large study, consisting of relatively young and healthy Korean adults, researchers investigated the association between episodes of microscopic haematuria and the development of CKD.
They found that microscopic haematuria, especially when persistent, was associated with worse kidney function.
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