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Journal of Clinical Microbiology logoLink to Journal of Clinical Microbiology
. 1982 Apr;15(4):558–561. doi: 10.1128/jcm.15.4.558-561.1982

Controlled evaluation of the volume of blood cultured in detection of bacteremia and fungemia.

J H Tenney, L B Reller, S Mirrett, W L Wang, M P Weinstein
PMCID: PMC272143  PMID: 7068835

Abstract

To evaluate the role of the volume of blood cultured in the detection of clinically important bacteremia and fungemia in adults, we evaluated the yield and speed of detection of microorganisms from 5,317 paired 2- and 5-ml samples of blood. The same kind of medium (supplemented peptone broth with 0.03% sodium polyanetholsulfonate) and atmosphere of incubation (open venting units) were used for all blood cultures. Only adequately filled (less than or equal to 80% of stated volume) sets (20-ml tube and 50-ml bottle) were compared statistically. Significantly more bacteria (p less than 0.01), Pseudomonas spp. In particular (P less than 0.05), were isolated from the 5-ml samples of blood. We conclude that the volume of blood cultured is a critical factor in the detection of septicemia. Consequently, valid evaluation of other factors influencing the detection of septicemia must be based on comparisons in which equal volumes of blood are cultured.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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