Get answers to your specific medical questions from UM Medical Center experts.
Tubules in the kidneys secrete proteins. Under some circumstances, these proteins precipitate out to form little cylindrical impressions of the tubules called casts. If anything is present in the tubules at the time, it gets trapped in the protein casts. This offers a "snap shot" of the tubular lumen at the time of cast formation.
Collect a "clean-catch" (midstream) urine sample. To obtain a clean-catch sample, men or boys should wipe clean the head of the penis. Women or girls need to wash the area between the lips of the vagina with soapy water and rinse well.
As you start to urinate, allow a small amount to fall into the toilet bowl (this clears the urethra of contaminants). Then, in a clean container, catch about 1 to 2 ounces of urine and remove the container from the urine stream. Give the container to the health care provider or assistant.
In infants, thoroughly wash the area around the urethra. Open a urine collection bag (a plastic bag with an adhesive paper on one end), and place it on your infant. For boys, the entire penis can be placed in the bag and the adhesive attached to the skin. For girls, the bag is placed over the labia. Place a diaper over the infant (bag and all).
Check your baby frequently and remove the bag after the infant has urinated into it. For active infants, this procedure may take a couple of attempts -- lively infants can displace the bag. The urine is drained into a container for transport back to the health care provider.
No special preparation is necessary for this test, but if the collection is being taken from an infant, a couple of extra collection bags may be necessary.
The test involves only normal urination, and there is no discomfort.
The test is performed to see whether the kidneys are functioning properly and to check for certain conditions, such as kidney infections, glomerular diseases , and interstitial kidney diseases .
|
A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org). URAC's accreditation program is the first of its kind, requiring compliance with 53 standards of quality and accountability, verified by independent audit. A.D.A.M. is among the first to achieve this important distinction for online health information and services. Learn more about A.D.A.M.'s editorial process . A.D.A.M. is also a founding member of Hi-Ethics (www.hiethics.com) and subscribes to the principles of the Health on the Net Foundation (www.hon.ch). |