What does granular casts in urine indicate?

Granular casts are a sign of many types of kidney diseases. Red blood cell casts mean there is a microscopic amount of bleeding from the kidney. They are seen in many kidney diseases. Renal tubular epithelial cell casts reflect damage to tubule cells in the kidney.

How do you read urinalysis results?

Normal values are as follows:

1. Color – Yellow (light/pale to dark/deep amber)
2. Clarity/turbidity – Clear or cloudy.
3. pH – 4.5-8.
4. Specific gravity – 1.005-1.025.
5. Glucose – ≤130 mg/d.
6. Ketones – None.
7. Nitrites – Negative.
8. Leukocyte esterase – Negative.

Can granular casts be normal?

Casts in urine from normal individuals are few or none (and are usually hyaline or granular in nature).

Are casts in urine bad?

They may be considered to represent a biopsy of the kidney. If a cast is seen in the urine, kidney disease or in- volvement exists; the presence of casts indicates kidney (renal) disease rather than lower urinary tract disease.

What is considered a high WBC in urine?

You’re bound to have a few WBCs in your urine even when you’re healthy, but if a urine test identifies levels above 5 wbc/hpf, it’s likely you have an infection. If bacteria are detected, your doctor may perform a urine culture to diagnose the type of bacterial infection you have.

What does purple mean on a UTI test?

Leukocyte test: a positive test will give a dark tan to purple color. If Leukocytes test is negative and Nitrite test is negative: no sign of UTI (if symptoms continue, test again or consult healthcare provider). If Leukocytes test is negative or trace but Nitrite test is positive: results suggest UTI.

What does it mean if my epithelial cells are high?

An epithelial cells in urine test looks at urine under a microscope to see if the number of your epithelial cells is in the normal range. It’s normal to have a small amount of epithelial cells in your urine. A large amount may indicate an infection, kidney disease, or other serious medical condition.

What is a granular cast made of?

Casts are clusters of urinary sediment elements (red blood cells, white blood cells, fat bodies, etc.) wrapped in a protein matrix. Cast formation necessarily occurs in the kidney tubules, and the contents of the casts indicate the nature of normal or abnormal occurrences found in the kidney itself.

Where does granularity come from in a cast?

In clinical grounds, granular casts are typically associated with acute tubular injury (ATI) and guide the differentiation between prerenal and overt tubular insult. The traditional view is that the granularity of granular casts comes from tubular epithelial cell debris that fill the cylindrical structure.

Can a finely granular cast indicate renal disease?

Low numbers of finely granular casts may or may not indicate underlying renal pathology, because they have been identified in the urine of animals without apparent tubular injury, whereas cellular, coarsely granular and waxy casts (even in low numbers) always indicate renal pathology.

Why are granular casts used in urinary sediment microscopy?

Perhaps that most highly sought finding in urinary sediment microscopy is the presence of granular casts. In clinical grounds, granular casts are typically associated with acute tubular injury (ATI) and guide the differentiation between prerenal and overt tubular insult.

Can a granular cast be used for ATI?

However, granular casts are not exclusively found during ATI. Interestingly, early studies looking at the composition of granular casts were performed in small cohorts of patients with glomerular pathologies.