Quantitative Estimation of Urinary Sediment, with Special Regard to Sources of Error

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Abstract
In semiquantitative counting of urinary sediment many variables are involved. The errors in transferring the sediment suspension from the centrifuge tube to the slide are recorded. The number of cells in the microscopic field varies from n to 10n when the sediment is transferred by pouring and from n to 3n when an ungraduated pipette is used. The quantitative estimation of the urinary excretion of erythrocytes and leucocytes was carried out in 75 males without disease of the urinary tract. An average of 51, 300 erythrocytes and 104, 000 leucocytes were excreted per hour. These numbers are higher than those previously reported, possibly because the examination was carried out on uncentrifuged urine. The present investigation has shown that centrifugation causes an unpredictable loss of cells.