A Comparison of Bacterial Counts of the Urine Obtained by Needle Aspiration of the Bladder, Catheterization and Midstream-Voided Methods

Abstract

PYELONEPHRITIS, the most common renal disease, remains a diagnostic and therapeutic problem. The critical need for early and accurate diagnosis has been growing steadily with the increasing awareness of the part that this disease plays in hypertension, diabetes mellitus, toxemias of pregnancy and chronic renal failure. Pyelonephritis has been found to be present in 10 to 20 per cent of autopsies, with only 20 to 30 per cent of these cases diagnosed during life.¹ The diagnosis of pyelonephritis is often missed because the disease may be asymptomatic or may not be accompanied by localizing clinical symptoms of pyelonephritis. The asymptomatic . . .