Urine Squamous Epithelial Cells

The squamous epithelial cell test in urine counts how many of these cells are in a urine sample. A flow cytometer counts cells per volume, at Certe per microlitre (µL), and according to the NVKC, the Dutch society for clinical chemistry, it is much more accurate at measuring cell numbers per volume than the microscope, which counts cells per field of view.

For a urine sediment, the undissolved particles in urine, a laboratory looks with a microscope according to the NVKC. A urine strip usually comes first, and only when it is positive is the sediment examined.

Squamous epithelial cells in a urine sample suggest contamination, according to a 2005 US review. In a 2016 US study of adults in an academic hospital, with 19,328 records, the squamous epithelial cell count was however a poor predictor of a contaminated urine culture.

In that study of adults, squamous epithelial cells may however predict poorer performance of the usual urine values in showing bacteria in the urine.

According to the NVKC, the doctor requests a urine test, in which squamous epithelial cells can also be counted, for symptoms that point to kidney disease and urinary tract infections, for example fever, abdominal pain, back pain, passing urine often, pain when passing urine, blood in the urine or cloudy urine.