Spot Diagnosis

Preterm with milky urine

Anshika Taiwade¹, Shweta Anand¹, Rashmi Vishwakarma¹, Rajeev Sharma¹, G.C Bhatt²
¹Department of Pediatrics, LN Medical College and JK Hospital, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India, ²Department Of Paediatric Nephrology, AIIMS, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India

Address for Correspondence: Anshika Taiwade, JK hospital, Kolar road, Bhopal, 462042, India.
Email: anshika22.taiwade@gmail.com

Keywords : Preterm, Milky Urine, Benign crystalluria

Question :

A primigravida mother delivered a preterm (35±2 weeks) male baby by emergency LSCS (severe oligohydramnios) with birth weight of 2.28 kg. Baby required no resuscitation and was shifted to mother side after routine care.
Baby developed neonatal jaundice on 60 hours of life for which phototherapy started. Neonatal hyperbilirubenemia resolved within 24 hours and baby was discharge on 6th day of life.
On 10th day mother came with complaint of passing turbid urine (Figure 1) and significant weight loss (300 gms).

Figure 1. Showing milky urine

We hospitalized the baby and started initial management. Initial management of urine revealed amorphous amount of calcium oxalate crystal with no pus cell. Septic screening were negative and urine culture showed commensal pathogen. Radioimaging done which was normal, RFT were normal. Urine calcium/creatinine ratio was high and urine chylomicron was negative.

Figure 2. Breast feeding, Hydration improved.

<b>Figure 2.</b> Breast feeding, Hydration improved.

Figure 3. Urine became clear .

What is Benign crystalluria?

Discussion :

Finally we made diagnosis of benign crystalluria. Crystalluria refers to crystals found in urine when performing a urine test. Crystalluria is considered often as a benign condition and may represent dehydration, which in newborns can be corrected by encouraging breastfeeding.

References :

Milky urine in a premature infant by Lucia Marseglia &Sara Manti &Gabriella D'Angelo &Ignazio Barberi &Eloisa Gitto IPNA 2013.
Yamauchi S (1945) Chyluria: clinical, laboratory and statisti-cal study of 45 personal cases observed in Hawaii. J Urol 54:318-347
Diamond E, Schapira HE (1985) Chyluria-a review of the literature.Urology 26:427-431
Hemal AK, Gupta NP (2002) Retroperitoneoscopic lymphatic man-agement of intractable chyluria. J Urol 167:2473-2476
Koo CG, Van Langenberg A (1969) Chyluria. A clinical study. J RColl Surg Edinb 14:31-41
WHO Expert Committee on Filariasis (1992) Lymphatic filariasis:the disease and its control. Fifth report of the WHO expert committeeon Filariasis. WHO Tech Rep Ser 821:1-71
Buck AA (2002) Filariasis. In: Strickland GT (ed) Hunterstropical medicine, 7th edn. WB Saunders, Philadelphia, pp713-
Stalens JP, Falk M, Howmann-Giles R, Roy LP (1992) «Milky»urine-a child with chyluria. Eur J Pediatr 151:61-62
Kittredge RD, Hashim S, Roholt HB, Van Itallie TB, Finby N (1963)Demonstration of lymphatic abnormalities in a patient with chyluria.Am J Roentgenol 90:159-165
Punj J, Anand R, Darlong V, Pandey R (2013) Milky urine! A causefor concern? Indian J Anaesth 57:87-88

Correct Answers :

Last Shown : Feb 2026

Preterm with milky urine

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