TABLE 1.
Isolation of M. tuberculosis culturesa
| No. of AFB per field | No. of cultures | No. (%) of positive cultures on:
|
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BACTEC | 7H11 agar | L-J medium | 7H11 and BACTEC media | All three media | ||
| None | 24 | 29.2 | 12.5 | 8.3 | 33.3 | 16.7 |
| <1 | 70 | 14.3 | 5.7 | 1.4 | 27.2 | 51.4 |
| 1–10 | 101 | 10.9 | 4.0 | 2.0 | 25.7 | 57.4 |
| >10 | 48 | 14.6 | 2.1 | 2.1 | 18.8 | 62.5 |
| All | 243 | 14.4 | 4.9 | 2.5 | 25.5 | 52.7 |
a
Cultures were isolated from sputum specimens in the Clinical Mycobacteriology Laboratory at National Jewish Medical and Research Center (1994 to 1996). AFB, acid-fast bacilli.