Abstract
The yield of mycobacterial culture from acid-fast-bacillus smear-positive sputum specimens was 387 or 439 (88.2%). Forty-nine of 52 culture-negative specimens came from patients on treatment. We conclude that the yield of culture from smear-positive sputum specimens is very high and that only two acid-fast-bacillus smear-positive specimens are needed for the initial evaluation of pulmonary mycobacteriosis.
Full Text
The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (45.0 KB).
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Boyd J. C., Marr J. J. Decreasing reliability of acid-fast smear techniques for detection of tuberculosis. Ann Intern Med. 1975 Apr;82(4):489–492. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-82-4-489. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Burdash N. M., Manos J. P., Ross D., Bannister E. R. Evaluation of the acid-fast smear. J Clin Microbiol. 1976 Aug;4(2):190–191. doi: 10.1128/jcm.4.2.190-191.1976. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Burman W. J., Stone B. L., Reves R. R., Wilson M. L., Yang Z., El-Hajj H., Bates J. H., Cave M. D. The incidence of false-positive cultures for Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 1997 Jan;155(1):321–326. doi: 10.1164/ajrccm.155.1.9001331. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Fischl M. A., Uttamchandani R. B., Daikos G. L., Poblete R. B., Moreno J. N., Reyes R. R., Boota A. M., Thompson L. M., Cleary T. J., Lai S. An outbreak of tuberculosis caused by multiple-drug-resistant tubercle bacilli among patients with HIV infection. Ann Intern Med. 1992 Aug 1;117(3):177–183. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-117-3-177. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Gordin F., Slutkin G. The validity of acid-fast smears in the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis. Arch Pathol Lab Med. 1990 Oct;114(10):1025–1027. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Greenbaum M., Beyt B. E., Jr, Murray P. R. The accuracy of diagnosing pulmonary tuberculosis at a teaching hospital. Am Rev Respir Dis. 1980 Mar;121(3):477–481. doi: 10.1164/arrd.1980.121.3.477. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Hellyer T. J., Fletcher T. W., Bates J. H., Stead W. W., Templeton G. L., Cave M. D., Eisenach K. D. Strand displacement amplification and the polymerase chain reaction for monitoring response to treatment in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis. J Infect Dis. 1996 Apr;173(4):934–941. doi: 10.1093/infdis/173.4.934. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Levy H., Feldman C., Sacho H., van der Meulen H., Kallenbach J., Koornhof H. A reevaluation of sputum microscopy and culture in the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis. Chest. 1989 Jun;95(6):1193–1197. doi: 10.1378/chest.95.6.1193. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Lipsky B. A., Gates J., Tenover F. C., Plorde J. J. Factors affecting the clinical value of microscopy for acid-fast bacilli. Rev Infect Dis. 1984 Mar-Apr;6(2):214–222. doi: 10.1093/clinids/6.2.214. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Murray P. R., Elmore C., Krogstad D. J. The acid-fast stain: a specific and predictive test for mycobacterial disease. Ann Intern Med. 1980 Apr;92(4):512–513. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-92-4-512. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Strumpf I. J., Tsang A. Y., Sayre J. W. Re-evaluation of sputum staining for the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis. Am Rev Respir Dis. 1979 Apr;119(4):599–602. doi: 10.1164/arrd.1979.119.4.599. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Taute J. F. The role of repeated sputum examinations in the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis. S Afr Med J. 1972 Nov 4;46(44):1674–1676. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Wilson M. L., Stone B. L., Hildred M. V., Reves R. R. Comparison of recovery rates for mycobacteria from BACTEC 12B vials, Middlebrook 7H11-selective 7H11 biplates, and Lowenstein Jensen slants in a public health mycobacteriology laboratory. J Clin Microbiol. 1995 Sep;33(9):2516–2518. doi: 10.1128/jcm.33.9.2516-2518.1995. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]