[Evaluation of Bactec MGIT 960 fluorescent method in diagnosis of tuberculosis]

We evaluated the fluorescent Bactec MGIT 960 the new system in Poland, which is a fully automated, non-invasive, system for growth and detection of Mycobacterium with a capacity to incubate and continuously monitor 960 of 7-ml culture tubes. This system is equipped with special oxygen-quenching fluorescent sensor, which permits to continuously monitoring of microbial growth. Processed specimens were inoculated into Bactec MGIT 960, Bactec 460 Tb and MB/BacT as well as on to Lowenstein-Jensen slants. The greatest number of isolates of M. tuberculosis complex was recovered by using Bactec MGIT 960 system (49/19.5%). Other systems detected M. tuberculosis complex as follows: Bactec 460 Tb (47/18.7%), MB/BacT (43/17/1%), L-J (38/15.1%). Detection mean time of mycobacterial growth in smear-positive specimens were 15.4 days for Bactec MGIT 960, 16.2 days for Bactec 460 Tb, 15.1 days for MB/BacT and 28.2 days for L-J medium The rates of contamination for each of the system were: 3.8% for Bactec MGIT 960 and Bactec 460 Tb, 3.6% for MB/BacT and 2.9% for L-J. In conclusion Bactec MGIT 960 system is a valuable alternative of radiometric, semi automated Bactec 460 Tb system.