J Korean Med Sci.  2015 Jul;30(7):871-875. 10.3346/jkms.2015.30.7.871.

Impact of Implementation of an Automated Liquid Culture System on Diagnosis of Tuberculous Pleurisy

• Lee BH
• Yoon SH
• Yeo HJ
• Kim DW
• Lee SE
• Cho WH
• Lee SJ
• Kim YS
• Jeon D

• KMID: 2164470
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2015.30.7.871

Abstract

This study was conducted to evaluate the impact of implementation of an automated liquid culture system on the diagnosis of tuberculous pleurisy in an HIV-uninfected patient population. We retrospectively compared the culture yield, time to positivity, and contamination rate of pleural effusion samples in the BACTEC Mycobacteria Growth Indicator Tube 960 (MGIT) and Ogawa media among patients with tuberculous pleurisy. Out of 104 effusion samples, 43 (41.3%) were culture positive on either the MGIT or the Ogawa media. The culture yield of MGIT was higher (40.4%, 42/104) than that of Ogawa media (18.3%, 19/104) (P<0.001). One of the samples was positive only on the Ogawa medium. The median time to positivity was faster in the MGIT (18 days, range 8-32 days) than in the Ogawa media (37 days, range 20-59 days) (P<0.001). No contamination or growth of nontuberculous mycobacterium was observed on either of the culture media. In conclusion, the automated liquid culture system could provide approximately twice as high yields and fast results in effusion culture, compared to solid media. Supplemental solid media may have a limited impact on maximizing sensitivity in effusion culture; however, further studies are required.

Keyword

Tuberculosis; Pleural Effusion; Pleurisy; Culture Media

MeSH Terms

Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Automation, Laboratory/*methods
Cell Culture Techniques
Culture Media/*classification
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Pleura/microbiology/pathology
Retrospective Studies
Sputum/*microbiology
Tuberculosis, Pleural/*diagnosis
Young Adult
Culture Media

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