SYNOPSIS A study of the cytology of the urinary sediment in 43 patients with known viral diseases has revealed a variety of inclusion-bearing cells in 28.The morphology of the cells suggest that the changes recorded may be due to the viral infections, at least in some instances, bearing in mind the findings of workers quoted in our 1964 report that cellular changes very similar to those induced by virus infections can be initiated by non-viral stimuli. Multinucleate giant cells are occasionally found in chickenpox, measles, herpes simplex infection, and in mumps.The work of Bolande (1959 and1961) stimulated us to examine the cytology of urinary sediment, and some of our preliminary observations have been recorded (Boyd andNedelkoska, 1963 and. These showed that inclusion-bearing cells were noted in 25 of 100 patients consecutively admitted to Ruchill Hospital, the 'positive' cases including five with varicella, two with herpes zoster, the other cases including central nervous system, respiratory, alimentary, and cutaneous conditions for which no viral aetiology was proved. Among the 75 'negative' cases, there were patients with illnesses of accepted viral aetiology, for example, rubella, primary herpes simplex, mumps, infective hepatitis, homologous serum jaundice, poliomyelitis (type 3 strain), and enteritis associated with ECHO virus type 2 infection. Although consideration ought to be given to the study of urinary sediment from normal (i.e. non-infected) children and adults, this investigation has not been pursued in view of the difficulty of defining normality. Appreciation of the existence of latent virus infections and of prolonged excretion of virus in the urine after some infections might make this line of pursuit less appropriate.Our next approach therefore has been to examine a consecutive series of admissions with illnesses of accepted viral aetiology, and the results are presented in this article.'British Council scholar. Present Address: The Clinic for Infectious Diseases, Skopje, Yugoslavia. Received for publication 6 April 1967.
MATERIAL AND METHODSA fresh specimen of urine was obtained from the patient on the first morning after admission to hospital and was treated in the same fashion as described in our earlier reports (Boyd andNedelkoska, 1963 and. Since these specimens were obtained usually about 7 a.m. and were processed between 10 and 11 a.m., the routine was established that the specimens were stored in Universal containers (30 ml., 1 fl. oz.) at ward temperature rather than in a refrigerator. The heavy precipitation of urates and phosphates which tended to occur if the latter method was adopted seriously obscured the study of cells. Specimens which showed heavy bacterial growth during this period were discarded as being unsatisfactory; those showing only a few bacteria were retained. None of the patients included in this report belongs to the earlier series.The criteria for 'positive' and 'negative' cells and for 'positive' and 'negative' urine samples are unchanged.
RESULTSThe results of...
