Urinary tract infections

World Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology -     

Biliary tract brush cytology

OBJECTIVE: To prospectively review brush smears obtained during endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) primarily from the biliary tree. STUDY DESIGN: A total of 175 specimens from 147 patients were included in the study. The smears, prepared directly from the endoscopic brush, were stained by the Papanicolaou technique and analyzed for standard cytologic features. RESULTS: The smears were categorized into benign/reactive, significant atypia and suspicious/positive. The consistent features seen in suspicious or positive smears were tightly cohesive, small, three-dimensional cell clusters that formed cell balls. The cells in the clusters displayed features of malignant cells. CONCLUSION: ERCP-guided brushing is a safe diagnostic procedure for the evaluation of biliary tree lesions. Small, three-dimensional epithelial clusters with marked atypia signify malignancy and warrant the diagnosis of a malignant neoplasm even when only one or two such clusters are seen in the smears. Single cells, cytoplasmic vacuoles and prominent nucleoli are not essential for a diagnosis of malignancy.     

Urinary cytology of tuberculosis of the bladder

The cytologic findings in the urinary sediment of 13 patients with tuberculosis (TB) of the bladder were compared with the histologic findings. TB was cytologically recognized in 11 patients because of the presence of epithelioid and/or Langhans' giant cells. The morphologic deviations of the urothelial cells and the urothelium were classified according to the criteria of Koss. The type I atypical urothelial cells found in ten patients were correlated to the urothelial hyperplasia found at histology; the follow-up data documented the benign reversible nature of the urothelial hyperplasia as the focal expression of the reactive potential of urothelium to various forms of inflammatory processes. The presence of type II atypical urothelial cells reflected moderate and severe atypia of the urothelium at biopsy. In order to assess the reactive, reversible or precancerous nature of these forms of atypia associated with TB, an accurate follow-up is necessary. Since TB of the bladder may cause the presence of atypical cells in the urine, this lesion is of special interest in the differential diagnosis between inflammatory processes and carcinoma.     

Brushing cytology in biliary tract obstruction

During a period of eight years (1980 to 1987), cytologic samples were obtained by brushing and reverse screw devices from 54 patients undergoing transhepatic cholangiography for evaluation of obstructive jaundice. Eight patients were excluded from this study, seven for inadequate follow-up and one because of unsatisfactory cytologic material. Of the remaining cases, 32 were cytologically diagnosed as adenocarcinomas; all but one patient proved to have malignant disease by histologic examination and/or through clinical follow-up. These included 21 pancreatic carcinomas, 6 bile duct carcinomas, 1 ampullary carcinoma, 1 gallbladder carcinoma and 2 metastatic carcinomas. In one case, the diagnosis of malignancy was found to be in error upon review of the cytologic smears. Of 14 patients with negative cytologic diagnoses, 7 were found to have malignant neoplasms and 7 had benign diseases. These findings indicate that, while a positive cytologic diagnosis is a reliable indicator of a malignant biliary obstruction, a negative result does not exclude malignancy.     

Urinary tract infections in adults

Urinary tract infection (UTI) is an exceedingly common problem prompting seven million office visits and one million hospitalizations in the United States each year. Advances in the understanding of both host and bacterial factors involved in UTI have led to many improvements in therapy. While there have also been advances in the realm of antimicrobials, there have been numerous problems with multiple drug resistant organisms. Providing economical care while minimizing drug resistance requires appropriate diagnosis, evaluation, and treatment of urinary tract infections.     

Urinary biomarkers for renal tract malformations

Introduction: Renal tract malformations (RTMs) are congenital anomalies of the kidneys and urinary tract, which are the major cause of end-stage renal disease in children. Using immunoassay-based approaches (ELISA, western blot), individual urinary proteins including transforming growth factor β, tumor necrosis factor and monocyte attractant proteins 1 were found to be associated to RTMs. However, only mass spectrometry (MS) based methods leading to the identification of panels of protein-based markers composed of fragments of the extracellular matrix allowed the prediction of progression of RTMs and its complications.

Areas covered: In this review, we summarized relevant studies identified in “Pubmed” using the keywords “urinary biomarkers” and “proteomics” and “renal tract malformations” or “hydronephrosis” or “ureteropelvic junction obstruction” or “posterior urethral valves” or “vesicoureteral reflux”. These publications represent studies on potential protein-based biomarkers, either individually or combined in panels, of RTMs in human and animal models.

Expert commentary: Successful use in the clinic of these protein-based biomarkers will need to involve larger scale studies to reach sufficient power. Improved performance will potentially come from combining immunoassay- and MS-based markers.