Urinary White Cell Excretion in Childhood.

In recent years more attention has been paid to the diagnosis of pyelonephritis, and this has made accurate estimation of pyuria more necessary. Houghton and Pears (1957), Hutt, Chalmers, MacDonald, and de Wardener (1961), and Little (1962) have all reported their experience in measuring the rate ofurinary white cell excretion. Their figures are very largely derived from adults; the present report is designed to provide a comparable set of values during infancy and childhood. Such figures have a direct relevance to the diagnosis of chronic pyelonephritis, other renal diseases, and also to the interpretation of the 'prednisolone provocative test' (Little and de Wardener, 1962; Katz, Velasquez, and Bourdo, 1962) when this is performed on a child.