EFFECT OF SHORT-TERM HIGH-DOSE TREATMENT WITH METHENAMINE HIPPURATE OF URINARY-INFECTION IN GERIATRIC-PATIENTS WITH INDWELLING CATHETERS .2. EVALUATION BY MEANS OF A QUANTIFIED URINE SEDIMENT

The urine sediment of 12 geriatric patients with indwelling catheters was quantified by the glutaraldehyde-cytocentrifuge method prior to, during and after a clinical trial of methenamine hippurate (MH), 2 g × 3 daily given for 34 days as the sole therapeutic agent for urinary tract infection. The median leukocyte concentration in the urine of these patients was 100 cells/mu;l (Q1 - Q3 50-350), i.e. tenfold higher than the upper normal limits reported in healthy probands. The median bacteriuria in the control period was 12 × 105 bacteria/ml urine, interquartile range 10-60 × 105 bacteria/ml and extreme individual values 300-500 × 105 bacteria/ml. Hematuria, defined as ≥ 24 erythrocytes/mu;l urine, was not prominent and could not be correlated with MH treatment, nor with catheter changes. The reported observations suggest that short-term high-dose treatment with MH as sole therapeutic agent reduced pyruria and bacteriuria in the group of patients studied. © 1979 Informa UK Ltd All rights reserved: reproduction in whole or part not permitted.