ABSTRACT
This study was conducted to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of pyuria detection in centrifuged urine samples of patients on hemodialysis, and its relationship with urinary tract infection. Clean-catch midstream urine samples of 90 hemodialysis patients [34 women and 56 men] were obtained and divided into two parts for examination of urine sediment and urine culture. Pyuria was defined as the presence of more than 10 leukocytes per high-power field of microscope. Ninety patients with a mean age of 52.8 +/- 14.2 and a mean period of dialysis of 3.3 +/- 2.3 years were studied. Forty-five participants had pyuria and only 16 [35.5%] of them had a positive urine culture for infection. Pyuria and urinary tract infection were present in 52.9% and 29.4% of the women and 48.2% and 10.7% of the men, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of pyuria screening for urinary tract infection was 100% and 61.8%, respectively. The positive and negative predictive values were 35.5% and 100%, respectively. In patients on hemodialysis, because of the low specificity and positive predictive values, samples with positive pyuria should be cultured to confirm urinary tract infections