2017 Volume 66 Issue J-STAGE-1 Pages 116-122
Urinary sediment examination is a microscopic observation of the components in urine obtained by centrifugation. Urinary sediments are simple to prepare, and the specimen can be easily produced by anyone. However, the differentiation of urine sediments with a microscope is difficult because the components appearing in urinary sediments are highly varied. For example, calcium oxalate crystals appearing in urine sediments appear in various forms, including octahedral, elliptical, and turbinate. Renal tubular epithelial cells appear in extremely diverse forms from basic cell morphology to those exhibiting a special morphology. To identify these components, it is necessary to have the sufficient knowledge and skills. In this part, photographs of urinary sedimentary components are shown. This atlas is quoted from “Examination of Urinary Sediment 2010,” partially modified. The photographs with “*” are newly added. The purpose of this atlas is to learn the basic knowledge required for the identification of urine sediments. We hope that readers will be able to morphologically differentiate the various components appearing in urine sediments by recognizing specific characteristics.