What does leucocytes plus nitrites mean?

Together they strongly suggest a bacterial urinary tract infection, classically from nitrite-forming Gram-negative organisms like E. coli. Leucocytes alone may indicate a nitrite-negative organism or sterile pyuria, so the tool flags those combinations separately.

How does it tell glomerular from urological bleeding?

It uses the microscopy fields. Dysmorphic red cells or red cell casts point to a glomerular source such as glomerulonephritis, while isomorphic red cells suggest a lower-tract cause like stones, infection, or malignancy. Without microscopy it flags haematuria as source-unclear.

What do white cell casts indicate?

White cell casts localise inflammation to the kidney itself, classically pyelonephritis or interstitial nephritis. They help distinguish an upper-tract infection from a simple lower urinary tract infection.

Does glucose in urine always mean diabetes?

Usually it means blood glucose has crossed the renal threshold near 10 mmol/L, as in diabetes, and glucose with ketones raises concern for poor control or ketoacidosis when unwell. Rarely a low renal threshold causes glycosuria with normal blood glucose, so confirm with a blood test.

No. It is an educational pattern matcher that surfaces what findings classically suggest. Urinalysis must always be read alongside symptoms, history, and other tests, and infection must be confirmed by culture before treatment decisions.

Urinalysis Result Interpreter

A urine dipstick and microscopy together pack a remarkable amount of clinical information into a few squares of colour and a slide. This interpreter takes those results and surfaces the classic patterns and differentials they point to, including the combinations that change the meaning of an individual finding.

How it works

The tool applies the standard rule logic clinicians use at the bedside. Each parameter has well-established associations, and several only become meaningful in combination:

leucocytes + nitrites      -> likely bacterial UTI
blood + dysmorphic RBCs    -> glomerular source
blood + isomorphic RBCs    -> lower-tract / urological source
protein + RBC casts        -> nephritic picture
glucose + ketones          -> uncontrolled diabetes / DKA concern
WBC casts                  -> pyelonephritis / interstitial nephritis
alkaline pH + pyuria       -> consider urea-splitting Proteus / struvite

Microscopy fields, when entered, refine the dipstick. Red cell morphology and cast type are what separate a kidney problem from a bladder one, so the output shifts accordingly.

Tips and notes

A positive blood dipstick is not always red cells: haemoglobin and myoglobin trigger it too, which is why microscopy confirmation matters. Trace proteinuria is frequently benign and transient after fever or exercise, while persistent or heavy proteinuria warrants quantification with a protein-to-creatinine ratio. Bacteria seen without leucocytes often signal contamination or asymptomatic bacteriuria rather than infection needing treatment. This tool is a teaching aid that flags patterns; it does not diagnose, and infection should always be confirmed by culture in the clinical context.