Flow cytometric analysis of viable bacteria in urine samples of febrile patients at the emergency department

Background Fast and reliable diagnostics are important in febrile patients admitted to the emergency department. Current urine diagnostics are fast but moderately reliable or reliable but time consuming. Flow cytometry (FC) is a new promising technique in the diagnostics of complicated urinary tract infections by counting bacteria in urine samples. The aim of this study is to improve the FC method by counting only viable bacteria. Methods Urine was obtained from 135 consecutive febrile patients at the emergency department. According to protocol regular diagnostic urine tests were performed. In addition, FC counting of viable and non‐viable bacteria was executed after staining with thiazole orange and propidium iodide. All test results were compared to the results of urine culture (≥ 105 colony forming units/mL). Results At a cut‐off value of 2.01 × 105 viable bacteria/mL the sensitivity was 100% and specificity was 78.4% (AUC‐value 0.955 on ROC‐curve). Spearman correlation test exhibited a higher correlation for flow cytometric counting of only viable bacteria than counting of all bacteria (0.59 vs. 0.37). Using ROC‐curves, the AUC‐values for FC counting of all bacteria, only viable bacteria and Gram staining were respectively 0.935, 0.955, and 0.968 (P > 0.05). Conclusion FC counting of only viable bacteria can predict quickly and reliably positive and negative urine cultures in febrile patients admitted to the emergency department. It can help to improve the speed and accuracy of the diagnostic procedure at the emergency department. © 2017 Clinical Cytometry Society