TABLE 2.

BACTEC MGIT 960 versus ESP II for recovery of mycobacteria

Organism	Total no. of isolates	No. detected bya:			P valueb
		BACTEC MGIT 960 and ESP II	BACTEC MGIT 960 only	ESP II only
MTBC	65	40	15	8	NS
M. gordonae	43	7	4	26	<0.05
Other mycobacteria	125	50	33	28	NS
Total	233	97	52	62	NS

^aAdditional mycobacteria recovered by Middlebrook agar only included MTBC (2 isolates); M. gordonae (6 isolates), and other mycobacteria (14 isolates). 

^bNS, not significant.