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Quality indicators in a mycobacteriology laboratory supporting clinical trials for pulmonary tuberculosis
N Selvakumar1, K Silambuchelvi1, M Gomathi Sekar1
1Department of Mycobacteriology, National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis (ICMR), Chetpet, Chennai 600031, India.
Background:
Documentation of structured quality indicators for mycobacteriology laboratories supporting exclusively controlled clinical trials in pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) is lacking.
Objective:
To document laboratory indicators for a solid (Lowenstein-Jensen medium) culture system in a mycobacteriology laboratory for a period of 4years (2007-2010).
Methods:
The sputum samples, collected from PTB suspects/patients enrolled in clinical trials, were subjected to fluorescence microscopy, culture and drug sensitivity testing (DST). Data was retrospectively collected from TB laboratory registers and computed using pre-formulated Microsoft Office Excel. Laboratory indicators were calculated and analyzed.
Results:
The number of samples processed in a calendar year varied from 6261 to 10,710. Of the samples processed in a calendar year, specimen contamination (4.8-6.9%), culture positives (78.4-85.1%) among smear positives, smear positives (71.8-79.0%) among culture positive samples, smear negatives among culture negative samples (95.2-96.7%), and average time to report DST results (76-97days) varied as shown in parentheses.
Conclusion:
Values of quality indicators in mycobacteriology laboratories supporting exclusively clinical trials of PTB have to be defined and used for meaningful monitoring of laboratories.
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