Release Date: Sep 2018
CC: PC, MK, PBL, ICS, PR, SBP
Rosemary She, MD
Director of Microbiology, Keck Medical Center of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA; Associate Professor of Clinical Pathology, Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
Description:
Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are the most common bacterial infection in people. In order to help clinicians diagnose and manage patients with UTI, clinical laboratories are inundated with urine specimens for urine analysis, microscopy, and cultures. UTIs remain a current issue in laboratories owing to continued inappropriate test ordering and the importance of reporting hospital-acquired infections, which include catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI). This session examines how evolving knowledge and understanding of UTI informs current laboratory practices.
Using a case-based approach, this webcast reviews laboratory tests as applied to different patient populations, based on patient age, gender, immune status, and method of specimen collection. The review discusses the merits of reflexive testing algorithms and differing views on quantitative culture interpretations, and the recently described urinary microbiota. And while the basic diagnostic tools for UTIs have remained unchanged for several decades, this session will highlight promising test methods intended to provide rapid actionable results.
This program will provide attendees with an added level of understanding of laboratory tests for UTI diagnosis. Participants should have some familiarity with clinical laboratory testing.
After attending this session, participants will be able to:
- Describe the ways in which a urine sample may be analyzed to evaluate for urinary tract infection.
- Integrate urinalysis, microscopy, and culture results to formulate a laboratory diagnosis.
- Critically consider and assess the meaning of quantitative urine culture results within the clinical context.
Who should attend? Practicing Pathologists, Residents, Laboratory Managers, Bench Supervisors, Bench Technologists and Technicians, Students