Comparison of various methods for the enumeration of blood cells in urine

This study compared the use of conventional urine microscopy, the KOVA system, Neubauer hemacytometry, and the Yellow IRIS for the determination of white blood cell (WBC) and red blood cell (RBC) counts in urine samples. Both KOVA WBC and RBC counts correlated better with the IRIS counts than with conventional microscopy. KOVA WBC counts correlated with Neubauer hemacytometry to the same degree as they did with IRIS WBC counts. The RBC count correlation was fairly similar between KOVA, hemacytometry, and the conventional method. It was concluded that the KOVA system is a suitable replacement for conventional urine microscopy. © 1992 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.