Effect of urine preservation on urine screening and organism identification.
Three urine preservation-transport methods were examined for their effect on rapid urine-screening procedures. Results from fresh urine specimens, screened for bacteriuria by leukocyte esterase, nitrate, Autobac, Bac-T-Screen, Auto Microbic System (AMS), and bioluminescence procedures, were compared with urine-screen results from urine specimens held for 24 hours at room temperature in chemical preservatives. Quantitative discrepancies ranged from 0%, for urine preserved with glycerin-boric acid-sodium formate and tested by AMS or leukocyte esterase, to 21% for urines in the same preservative tested by bioluminescence or nitrate. Up to 62% of the organism identifications made from preserved urine specimens tested by the AMS urine card were in error. These data suggest that it may be inadvisable to use weak organic acid-based urine preservation systems in conjunction with these urine-screen procedures.
D001437:Bacteriuria / Q000382:microbiology*; D001888:Boric Acids; D005561:Formates; D005990:Glycerol; D006801:Humans; D013012:Sorbitol; D013048:Specimen Handling; D014021:Tissue Preservation / Q000379:methods*
D001888:Boric Acids; D005561:Formates; C030544:formic acid; D013012:Sorbitol; D005990:Glycerol; C032688:boric acid