Evaluation of thin-layer agar 7H11 for the isolation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex

We evaluated the thin-layer agar (TLA) method for the recovery of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex and compared the results with the BACTEC Mycobacteria Growth Indicator Tube (MGIT) 960 system. A total of 53 mycobacterial isolates were isolated on both media. The recovery rates of mycobacteria on TLA and BACTEC MGIT 960 system were respectively 90.6% and 96.2%. Mean time to detection of mycobacteria on TLA was 12.5 compared to 11.2 days on BACTEC MGIT 960. TLA is a simple technique and can be used as an alternative to the Löwenstein-Jensen medium and BACTEC MGIT 960 for the isolation of mycobacteria in resource-poor settings.