Table 1.
Rates of recovery of M. tuberculosis by the BacT/Alert 3D system, L-J medium, and Gottsacker medium during primary cultured
| Culture result | No. (%) of specimens with result determined by: |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BacT/Alert 3D system (n = 319) | L-J medium (n = 319) | Gottsacker medium (n = 319) | L-J and Gottsacker media (n = 319) | BacT/Alert 3D system and L-J and Gottsacker media (n = 319) | |
| Positive (M. tuberculosis) | 251 (78.7) | 249 (78.0) | 236 (74.0) | 265 (83.1)a | 283 (88.7)a |
| Contamination | 42 (13.2) | 21 (6.6) | 16 (5.0) | 10 (3.1)b | 4 (1.3)b |
| Negative | 26 (8.1) | 49 (15.4) | 67 (21.0) | 44 (13.8)c | 26 (8.1)c |
| Contamination in BacT/Alert 3D and negative in solid media | 6 (1.9) | ||||
a
At least one positive.
b
All media were contaminated.
c
All media were negative.
d
P = 0.892 for the BacT/Alert 3D system versus L-J medium, P = 0.082 for the BacT/Alert 3D system versus Gottsacker medium, and P = 0.072 for L-J medium versus Gottsacker medium (determined by the McNemar test for differences).