en Infectious Diseases Infectious Diseases Original Article Original Article <p align="left" style="direction: ltr"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font><font face="Times New Roman"><b><i><span style="color: blue font-size: 10pt">Background: </span></i></b><span style="font-size: 10pt">Urinary tract infection (UTI) is one of the most prevalent infectious diseases and Escherichia coli is its common cause. The aim of this study was to assess the resistance patterns of E.coli in urinary tract infections and to determine the susceptibility of E.coli to commonly used antimicrobials and also to evaluate the options for empirical treatment of UTI.</span></font></p><p align="left"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font><font face="Times New Roman"><b><i><span style="color: blue font-size: 10pt">Methods:</span></i></b><span style="font-size: 10pt"> This study was conducted in the Ayatollah Rouhani Teaching Hospital of Babol Medical Sciences University in North of Iran. Between January of 2013 to December 2013, antimicrobial susceptibility tests were done by disk diffusion and microdilution method. Growth of >₌10⁵ cfu/ml was considered as positive urine test. Ten commonly used antibiotics were examined for susceptibility test. Data and the results were collected and analyzed.</span></font></p><p align="left"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font><font face="Times New Roman"><b><i><span style="color: blue font-size: 10pt">Results:</span></i></b><span style="font-size: 10pt"> E.coli grew in 57 urine samples. Imipenem, ofloxacin, ciprofloxacin were the most sensitive antibiotics at 87.7%, 87.7% and 78.9% respectively. Whereas, cotrimoxazole, cefexime, cefotaxcime and ceftriaxone were the most resistant antibiotics. Antibiotic sensitivity of disk diffusion compared minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) detected by microdilution had the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of 82%, 98%, 99% and 74%, respectively.</span></font></p><p align="left"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font><font face="Times New Roman"><b><i><span style="color: blue font-size: 10pt">Conclusion: </span></i></b><span style="font-size: 10pt">Imipenem, ofloxacin and ciprofloxacin should be used in empirical therapy of UTI.</span></font></p><p align="left"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font></p> Urinary Tract Infection, UTI, Escherichia coli , antibiotic susceptibility ,antibiotic resistance, disk diffusion , micro dilution 148 151 http://caspjim.com/browse.php?a_code=A-10-131-1&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Elaheh Ferdosi-Shahandashti elaheh.ferdosi@yahoo.com 10031947532846003534 10031947532846003534 No Tehran University of Medical Sciences Mostafa Javanian mjavanian@gmail.com 10031947532846003535 10031947532846003535 No Babol University of Medical Sciences Masoomeh Moradian-Kouchakssaraei 10031947532846003536 10031947532846003536 No Department of Microbiology, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran Babak Yeganeh babakyeganeh@yahoo.com 10031947532846003537 10031947532846003537 No Department of Infectious Dideases, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran Ali Bijani mjavanian@gmail.com 10031947532846003538 10031947532846003538 No Social Determinants of Health (SDH) Research Center, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran Elahe Motevaseli 10031947532846003539 10031947532846003539 No Tehran University of Medical Sciences Fatemeh Moradiyan-Kouchakssaraei M.Moradiyan20@yahoo.com 10031947532846003540 10031947532846003540 Yes Babol University of Medical Sciences