Aims: The authors evaluated the analytical performance of the Sysmex UF-100 cytometer vs. the diagnosis of urinary tract infections (UTI).
Methods: We considered 2010 subjects, aged between 18 and 78, 870 males and 1140 females. The majority (90.2%) of the samples were voided urine specimens collected by using the midstream technique. Each sample was subjected to microbiological evaluation (culture + residual antibacterial activity), dipstick tests, UF-100 examination and microscopic observation. In order to obtain a final diagnosis of UTI these laboratory results were taken into consideration together with clinical data and patients' characteristics. The analytical performance of the laboratory tests was obtained by adopting this diagnosis as standard practice.
Results: Out of the total 2010 subjects considered a clinical diagnosis of UTI was obtained in 529 cases (26.32%). The UF-100-based screening had sensitivity, 0.94; specificity, 0.93; positive predictive value, 0.83; negative predictive value, 0.98; and correctly classified incidence, 0.93.
Conclusions: In our experience the results of the UF-100-based screening show a very good correlation with the diagnosis of acute UTI in adults patients.