TABLE 2.

Overall interpretive agreement between results of fluconazole susceptibility tests and of standard 48-h broth microdilution reference tests

Method and medium	Incubation time (h)	No. of testsa	No. (%) of discrepant resultsb			% Total agreement
			Minor	Major	Very major
Microdilution in RPMI 1640 broth	24	486	22 (4.5)	0	6 (1.2)	94.2
Etest on RPMI 1640-glucose-agarc	24	467	18 (3.9)	0	2 (0.4)	95.7
	48	492	15 (3.0)	2 (0.4)	1 (0.2)	96.3
Disk diffusion on RPMI 1640-glucose-agarc	24	467	22 (4.7)	0	8 (1.7)	93.6
	48	492	21 (4.3)	2 (0.4)	9 (1.8)	93.5
Disk diffusion on Mueller-Hinton agar-glucose-methylene blued	24	490	14 (2.9)	0	1 (0.2)	96.9
	48	495	28 (5.7)	5 (1.0)	0	93.3

^aA total of 495 Candida spp. were tested by all methods. Differences represent the number of strains that failed to grow satisfactorily on the designated medium for the given incubation times.

^bFor susceptible strains, MICs were ≤8 μg/ml or zone diameters were ≥19 mm; for dose-dependent-susceptibility strains, MICs were 16 to 32 μg/ml or zone diameters were 15 to 18 mm; and for resistant strains, MICs were ≥64 μg/ml or zone diameters were ≤14 mm. Minor discrepancies are results indicating dose-dependent susceptibility by one method but susceptibility or resistance by the other method. Major discrepancies are results indicating resistance by the test method but susceptibility by the reference test. Very major discrepancies are results indicating susceptibility by the test method but resistance by the reference test.

^cRPMI 1640 broth with 2% glucose and 1.5% agar.

^dMueller-Hinton agar with 2% glucose and 0.5 μg of methylene blue/ml.