Epithelial cells in urine are generally of little specific diagnostic utility. Cells lining the urinary tract at any level may slough into the urine. In the case of voided samples, even cells from the genital tract can appear in the sample. Most commonly seen are squamous epithelial cells from the distal urethra and/or vulva (upper panel at right), and transitional epithelial cells from the bladder and urethra (lower panel). More information on epithelial cells in urine is in the Urine Sediment Atlas.