He also stated that if I wasn't experiencing the bladder infection like symptons and only had the trace of blood in my urine with the negative IVP, he would recommend sending me home without any further testing. His recommendation was exploratory surgery. There is a complex pathologic criteria for the identification of malignant cells in cytology samples based on the appearance of the cells in the urine under the microscope. This is a relatively inexpensive laboratory test, however, the actual charge will vary between hospitals. Even though no stones were present on your IVP, you continue to have microscopic hematuria and this deserves a complete work up.
Microscopic hematuria is defined as blood in the urine that is only evident under the microscope.
No blood is discernible by the naked eye. The complete work up for microscopic hematuria includes a complete history and physical, IVP, and a cystoscopy. The key element missing from your work up is a cystoscopy. Urine cytology is not a replacement for cystoscopy. This information is provided for general medical educational purposes only.