Authors: Canavese C, Airoldi A, Quaglia M, Barbè MC, Brustia M, Vidali M, Bagnati M, Andreone S, Corrà T, Sciarrabba C, Bellomo G, Stratta P
Abstract
Purple urine bag syndrome is a clinical entity first described in 1978. Its typical discoloration is worrying for clinicians. In the past, these patients sometimes reached the emergency unit only because of this exceptional worrying urinary sign and underwent invasive diagnostic examinations including cystoscopy, without any abnormal finding. It is now clear that this astonishing phenomenon of double discoloration of the urine, appearing purple in the bag and dark blue in the test tube, results from the formation of 2 different pigments (indirubin and indigo) in very alkaline urines due to enzymes produced by gram-negative bacteria,...