Bacterial Pyrogen in Diagnosis of Pyelonephritis

Pears and Houghton (1958, 1959) reported an increase in the urinary excretion of leucocytes after the intra- venous administration of bacterial pyrogen in 17 subjects with chronic pyelonephritis. No such rise was demon- strated in six normal subjects or in three patients with non-infective renal disease. The authors suggested that this phenomenon might be employed as a diagnostic test for the presence of chronic infection of the urinary tract.