Prediction of the bacterial shape in urinary tract infections with the Sysmex UF-1000i analyser: technical note

The aim of our study was to explore the utility of the Sysmex UF-1000i analyzer as a rapid screening tool for urinary tract infections (UTI) and its ability to predict bacterial shape in order to help physicians choose the appropriate empiric treatment.

This is a retrospective study, including 1023 urine cytobacteriological examinations. Urines were processed according to the recommendations of the medical microbiology reference system (REMIC). Using the Sysmex Uf-1000i analyzer, the authors evaluated bacteria forward scatter (B_FSC) and fluorescent light scatter (B_FLH) in a preliminary discrimination step for UTI caused by bacilli or cocci bacteria.

The authors got 1023 positive samples. Comparing baccili and cocci bacteria, the authors observed a statistically significant difference for B_FSC but not for B_FLH. The values of B_FLH are very close for the four categories of microorganisms compared (bacilli, cocci, bacilli-cocci association, and yeasts). For these same categories, tests show different values for the B_FSC. A separate analysis of the B_FSC values for bacilli shows that their distribution is relatively homogeneous and exhibits a peak between 20 and 30 ch.

Dimensional parameters of bacteria generated by UF-1000i could be a rapid and useful tool for predicting the bacterial shape causing UTI.