The pertinence of microscopic analysis of the urine as a diagnostic test for asymptomatic bacteriuria in pregnancy

: The genito-urinary tract is the most frequent site of infection during pregnancy. Asymptomatic bacteriuria is found in 2 to 12% of the obstetrical population. The importance of its detection is underlined by the fact that 20 to 40% of untreated cases will present acute pyelonephritis. Our study's first aim was determining the incidence of asymptomatic bacteriuria in our population. Our results show an incidence of 3.9%. Second, routine mandatory prenatal laboratory examinations include urinalysis and urine culture. Considering the fact that we already do a routine culture, we questioned the pertinence of the microscopic part of urinalysis for screening asymptomatic bacteriuria. Our study has shown that no amount of erythrocytes, leucocytes, bacteria, pus or combination thereof has sufficient sensitivity and/or specificity to be used for screening. We thus conclude that in our context of budget restrictions, the microscopic analysis of urine should be abandoned as a routine test. The biochemical part of urinalysis could be done easily with dipsticks at a lower cost. Urine culture remains the gold standard for detection of asymptomatic bacteriuria.