 |
Bacteriologic
diagnosis of complicated, recurrent UTIs and of asymptomatic bacteriuria is usually based
on the concept of clinically important bacteriuria, which for these patients is usually
defined as > 105 CFU/mL in a midstream urine sample after > 4 hours of
bladder incubation. For women with uncomplicated symptomatic cystitis, however, the
highest diagnostic sensitivity and specificity are achieved when clinically important
bacteriuria is defined as > 102 CFU/mL with pyuria. If the clinical
importance of bacteriuria is doubtful (eg, when repeated samples yield more than one
bacterial strain) and obtaining culture is critically important, urine may be obtained by
bladder puncture. |
