Screening urine before microscopy, by automated test-strip preselection: clinical evaluation of the improved Rapimat II/T (Behring).

In many laboratories, microscopy of urines is restricted to specimens selected on the basis of positive tests, mainly for protein, blood, nitrite, and leukocyte esterase. Here, we analyzed several hundred specimens by use of multiple dipsticks, read in an improved reflectometer. By comparing the results with quantitative microscopy, it could be shown that this system allows selection, with acceptable sensitivity and specificity, of those specimens that are likely to contain clinically important microscopic elements.