Flow cytometry of normal and nonneoplastic diseases of the bladder: an estimate of the false positive rate.

From July 1980 through February 1981, 100 patients with normal or nonneoplastic disease of the bladder were studied by flow cytometry. These patients had a variety of medical problems, including carcinoma of the prostate, benign prostatic hypertrophy, acute and chronic cystitis and carcinoma of other sites. The results showed that inflammation and cystitis affected flow cytometry analysis and could lead to false positive diagnoses under some circumstances. With present criteria we estimate that the false positive rate in a urologic population is an acceptable 2 per cent.