Optimal Diagnostic Testing for Urinary Tract Infection in Young Children

Urinary tract infection (UTI) is a major concern in young febrile children. Current recommendations favor use of urine obtained by bladder catheterization or aspiration, but opinion varies as to the best ancillary tests to predict a positive culture and guide initial management. The utility of dipstick leukocyte esterase, blood, and nitrite; unspun urine leukocyte count; gram stain of cytocentrifuged urine; and standard spun sediment examination was evaluated in 142 febrile, < 5-year-old children seen in the Emergency Department, 25 of whom had culture-proven UTI. Using sensitivity and negative predictive values as criteria for performance, unspun urine leukocyte count and gram stain of cytocentrifuged urine used in parallel was the best approach but still failed to detect some UTI. Analysis of the nature of the specimens evaluated provided explanation of differences from previous observations. Adoption of this modified approach to prediction of urinary tract infection appears to improve prediction but has operational implications and creates potential problems for the laboratory.This study was presented at the Fall Society for Pediatric Pathology Meeting, in Dallas, Texas, USA, September 2002.