Urinalysis and Body Fluids Review

These flashcards cover key terminology and concepts from urinalysis and microscopical examination of body fluids.

RBCs

Red blood cells; smooth, non-nucleated, biconcave disks that can appear crenated in hypersthenuric urine and ghost cells in hyposthenuric urine.

Phase-contrast microscopy

A microscopy technique that increases the refractive index of casts, mucus threads, and trichomonas.

Polarizing microscopy

A microscopy method used to observe crystals and lipids that can split light into two beams; cholesterol produces Maltese cross formations.

Bright field microscopy

The most common microscopy type in urinalysis, requiring reduced light and typically using magnifications of 10x and 40x.

Supravital stain

A type of stain, such as crystal violet and Safranin O, that increases the refractive index and stains cell nuclei, cytoplasm, and inclusions.

Consistent reporting

Microscopic reporting that includes terms like rare, few, moderate, and many for semi-quantitative analysis of elements.

Sediment concentration factor

The ratio of the volume of urine centrifuged to the volume of sediment, important for detecting low quantities of formed elements in sediment.

Artifact interference

The presence of non-usual sediment elements, such as large pollen grains, which can mislead observations during microscopic examination.

Centrifugation

The process used to separate sediment from urine, requiring careful handling to maintain sample integrity.

Maltese cross pattern

The appearance of cholesterol under polarized light during microscopy, indicating its presence in a sample.