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108 notecards = 27 pages (4 cards per page)

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Microscopic Examination of Urine Sediment

front 1

12mL

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volume of urine recommended for urinalysis

front 2

10-15mL

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volume range of urine recommended for urinalysis

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1 mL

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amount of sediment obtained

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RBCs, WBCs, and casts

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components that should be counted and classified

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crystals, bacteria, and mucus

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components that should be assessed qualitatively

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10 LPF or HPF

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minimum fields assessed for urine components depending on specific components

front 7

supra vital stains

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used to enhance visualization

front 8

crystal-violet and safranin (Sternheimer-Malbin)

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most common supra vital stain for urine

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0.5% toluidine blue solution

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distinguishes various cell components differently to help in identification

front 10

acetic acid

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brings out nuclear detail of WBCs and lyses RBCs

front 11

Sudan III and oil red O

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fat stains that identify fat inside cells or free floating; within renal cells or macrophages (oval fat bodies)

front 12

cholesterol

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does not stain and must be confirmed with polarizing microscopy

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gram stain

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used to identify bacteria and yeast; rarely used in UA

front 14

Prussian blue

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stains iron in hemosiderin granules blue; can be free floating or inside cells

front 15

Hansel stain

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methylene blue and eosin-Y; for identification of eosinophils

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brightfield

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most commonly used microscope technique in urinalysis

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phase-contrast

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ideal for urine sediments; allows more detailed visualization of RBC morphology and translucent or low-refractive components and living cells

front 18

polarizing

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confirms presence of cholesterol; also used on crystals

front 19

cholesterol

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forms a maltese cross pattern with polarized light

front 20

interference contrast

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gives 3-D images; high cost

front 21

cytocentrifugation

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a technique used to produce permanent microscope slides of urine sediment and body fluids; produces a monolayer of sediment components

front 22

pictures

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pg 132-3. 192-210, Table 7.5 pg. 137, ph 140, 144-5

front 23

0-3/HPF

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red blood cell reference interval

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0-8/HPF

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white blood cell reference interval

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0-2/LPF

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hyaline cast reference interval

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few/LPF

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squamous epithelial cell reference interval

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few/HPF

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transitional epithelial cell reference interval

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few (0-1)/HPF

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renal epithelial cell reference interval

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negative/HPF

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bacteria and yeast reference interval

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non/LPF

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abnormal crystal reference interval

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10x

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LPF

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40x

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HPF

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erythrocytes

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small, biconcave disks, approximately 8um in diameter and 3um deep with no nucleus

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crenated

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RBC hypertonic (concentrated) urine

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ghost cells

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RBC hypotonic (dilute) urine

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hypertonic

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concentrated urine

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hypotonic

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dilute urine

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renal bleed

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increased RBC casts and significant protein

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bleeding below kidney or contamination

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increased RBCs no casts or protein

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RBCs lysed or false positive

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positive strip test no RBCs seen; false positive

front 41

vitamin C or look-alike (yeast, crystals, bubbles)

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false negative RBC strip test

front 42

neutrophils

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most common WBC in blood and urine

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glitter cells

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WBCs in hypotonic urine

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degenerated blebs

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WBCs in hypertonic urine

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upper urinary tract infection

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WBCs, WBC casts along with positive protein

front 46

lower urinary tract infection

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increased WBCs, no casts and no protein (or lower level)

front 47

leukocyturia

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increased WBCs in urine

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eosinophiluria

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predictor of acute interstitial nephritis due to drug sensitivity

front 49

Hansel stain

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used to detect eosinophils

front 50

lymphocyturia

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seen in viral infections kidney transplant rejection

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histiocytes

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monocytes and macrophages

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squamous epithelial cells

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the most common and largest of the epithelial cells; use low power; rarely significant, usually caused by contamination

front 53

transitional (urothelial) epithelial cells

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line calyces, renal pelvis, ureters, and bladder; various size and shape; seen in UTI, urinary procedures, and carcinoma (in sheets)

front 54

renal tubular epithelial cells

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convoluted tubular and collecting duct cells enumerated; seen in acute ischemic or toxic renal tubular disease from heavy metals or drug (ahminoglycosides) toxicity

front 55

casts

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formed in distal and convoluted tubules with a core matrix of uromodulin (Tamm-Horsfall protein) secreted by renal tubular cells; seen in acidic urine

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hyaline or finely granular

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types of casts that are normal in small amounts

front 57

hyaline casts

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most commonly observed casts in the urine sediment; two or few/lpf are normal; seen in excess in strenuous exercise, dehydration, fever, emotional stress, CHF, and renal disease

front 58

waxy casts

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indicates prolonged stasis (take as long as 48 hours or more to form) and tubular obstruction; believed to be advanced stages of other casts; found in chronic renal failure, acute renal disease, hypertension, and renal allograft rejection

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red blood cell casts

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casts diagnostic of intrinsic renal disease; most often of glomerular origin, but may result from tubular damage; accompanied by proteinuria

front 60

proteinuria

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must accompany increased numbers or abnormal casts

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WBC cast

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casts that indicates renal inflammation or infection

front 62

granular casts

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casts composed primarily of uromodulin protein; not usually clinically significant casts unless they are very broad which may indicate poor prognosis; may be formed by degradation of other cellular casts

front 63

fatty casts

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casts with oval fat bodies indicating renal tubular death; signify a severe renal pathological condition, accompanied by significant proteinuria

front 64

casts

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must be correlated with chemical tests

front 65

mucous threads, fibers, and crystals

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three cast look-alikes

front 66

crystals

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result of precipitation of urine solutes, not usually present in freshly voided urine; significant in fresh voided indicates tubular damage

front 67

concentration of urine, urine pH, and slow flow of urine

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factors influencing crystal formation

front 68

amorphous urates, acid urates, monosodium urate, uric acid, calcium oxalate

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crystals present in acidic urine

front 69

amorphous phosphates, triple phosphate, calcium and magnesium phosphates, ammonium bitrate, calcium carbonate

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crystals present in alkaline urine

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bilirubin, cystine, tyrosine and leucine, cholesterol

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crystals present in metabolic conditions

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drug crystals, bacteria, yeast, trichomonads, Gardnerella, parasites, fat, lipidemia, mucus, hemosiderin, sperm

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crystals present in iatrogenic origin

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1

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2

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amorphous urate crystals

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present in urine 5.7-7.0; have no clinical significance; may appear as brick dust due to uroerythrin

front 74

acid urate crystals

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sodium, potassium, and ammonium salts of urine acid that appear as small yellow-brown balls or spheres; no clinical significance

front 75

uric acid crystals

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occur in many forms, most common is rhombic or diamond shape, also cubes, barrels, or bands and can form rosettes; appear only when urine pH is less than 5.7; commonly seen in gout or after cytotoxic drug administration

front 76

monosodium urate crystals

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appear as colorless to light-yellow slender, pencil-like prisms; no clinical significance

front 77

calcium oxalate crystals

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most frequently observed crystals in human urine; form at any pH, commonly formed in high ascorbic acid diets or during refrigeration; seen in ethylene glycol (antifreeze ingestion) and during severe chronic renal disease; envelope crystals

front 78

amorphous phosphates

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found in alkaline and neutral urine; indistinguishable from amorphous urates; precipitate appears white or gray; no clinical significance

front 79

triple phosphate

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colorless and appear in different forms; most common is coffin lid; found in alkaline or neutral urine; little clinical significance, but found in conjunction with UTIs

front 80

calcium and magnesium phasphates

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common and have no clinical significance; found in neutral and slightly alkaline (sometimes slightly acidic) urine

front 81

ammonium biurate

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thorny apple appearance (yellow brown spheres with striations on surface); normal urine solute seen after storage; significant in fresh urine indicating renal tubular damage

front 82

calcium carbonate

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appear as tiny, colorless granular crystals usually found in pairs or tetrads; no frequently found and no clinical significance

front 83

bilirubin crystals

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indicate large amounts of bilirubin in the urine; only form in acidic urine; appear as small clusters of fine needles

front 84

cystine

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colorless, hexagonal plates with uneven sides; present primarily in acidic urine; clinically significant indicating disease (hereditary cystinosis or cystinuria);

front 85

tyrosine and leucine

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form in acidic urine and dissolve in alkaline urine; rarely seen but indicate abnormal process such as severe liver disease or a rare inherited metabolic disorder

front 86

cholesterol

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clear, thin parallelogram plates with notched corners; indicate large amounts of cholesterol and ideal conditions that allowed them to precipitate out into the urine; usually accompany oval fat bodies, fatty casts, and large amounts of protein; signify nephrotic syndrome, kidney disease

front 87

iatrogenic crystals

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form due to treatment administered such as drugs, dyes, contrast media

front 88

rod-shaped bacili

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most common bacteria in urine

front 89

bacteria

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presence indicates UTI (accompanied by leukocytes) or contamination; reported as few, moderate, or many per HPF

front 90

yeast

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colorless ovoid cells resembling RBCs; seen often as vaginal contaminant

front 91

KOH prep

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prepared to view yeast

front 92

Trichomonads vaginalis

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most common cause of parasitic gynecologic infection in females as an STD; turnip-shaped flagellates and have jerky motility in wet preps; reported as present

front 93

Gardnerella vaginalis

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an anaerobic bacterium; clue cells present; characteristic of bacterial vaginosis

front 94

clue cells

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squamous epithelial cells from the vaginal mucosa with large numbers of bacteria adhering to them

front 95

parasites

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common are Enterobius vermicularis (pinworm), Giardia lamblia and Schistosoma haematobium (schistosomiasis)

front 96

mucus

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a protein produced by the renal tubular epithelium; no clinical significance

front 97

fat

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found in urine in three forms; free-floating droplets, oval fat bodies, or within fatty casts; triglycerides and/or cholesterol

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triglycerides

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will stain with Sudan III or an oil red O stain

front 99

cholesterol

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will not stain, but will demonstrate birefringence with polarizing microscopy

front 100

cholesterol droplets

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produce a distinctive maltese cross pattern

front 101

lipiduria

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always clinically significant; present in a variety of renal diseases and may occur after severe crush injuries; always accompanied by proteinuria

front 102

hemosiderin

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form of iron that results in ferritin denaturation; may be seen in urine after a severe hemolytic episode (transfusion reaction); Prussian blue used to identify

front 103

sperm

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indicates ejaculation or recent sexual intercourse

front 104

fibers

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hair, cotton, fabric threads, diapers and hygiene products often appear in urine sediment

front 105

starch

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originate from body powders or gloves; not perfectly round with a centrally located dimple; exhibits pseudo-maltese pattern with polarized microscopy

front 106

fecal matter

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come from improper collection or through abnormal connection between urinary tract and the bowel

front 107

correlation

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process of using entire analysis: physical, chemical, and microscopic

front 108

disease process, functional change, hereditary disease, or iatrogenic agent

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purposes of findings in urine sediment