1. GLOBE UNIVERSITY
Urine Cell Book
Stephanie McCutcheon

2. Red Blood Cells
(RBC)
Appear pale looking
Smooth looking
Disk shaped or donut shaped

3. White Blood Cells
(WBC)
Larger than Red Blood Cells
Appear granular
Visible nucleus

4. Epithelial Cells
(epi cells)
Squamous cells the most common
Small, round nucleus
Nucleus with dense nuclear chromatin
Appear large and flat

5. Bacteria
Appear round (cocci) or rod (bacilli) shaped
Appear singly or in groups, clusters, pairs or chains
Variable length

6. Waxy Cast
Broad or stubby with blunt ends
(ends may appear broken off)
Well defined parallel margins
Colorless or waxy yellow interior
Irregular outlines

7. Hyaline Cast
Colorless, homogeneous and transparent
Low refractive index
Smooth or finely wrinkled surface
May appear tortuous or coiled

8. Granular Cast
May contain many fine or coarse granules
Granules are most often evenly dispersed over the
cast but may be confined to one area or loosely
scattered

9. Yeast
Smaller than RBC’s
Budding or chains

10. Uric Acid Crystals
Usually yellow to brown in color
Four-sided, flat, and whetstone
Vary in size and shape
Six-sided plates, needles, lemon-shaped forms,
spears, clubs, wedge shapes and star

11. Calcium Oxalate Crystals
Vary in size and may be much smaller than RBC’s
Colorless octahedrons
Resemble stars or envelopes
Appear in many shapes

12. Triple Phosphate Crystals
Typically colorless
Four-armed, feathery appearance
Highly retractile prisms

13. Amorphous
Pink in the urine container
Yellowish under the microscope
Fine granules with no specific shape