Comparison of the Quantum II, API Yeast Ident, and AutoMicrobic systems for identification of clinical yeast isolates

The Quantum II Yeast Identification System (Abbott Laboratories) is a microprocessor-based spectrophotometric system for identification of clinical yeast isolates within 24 h. We compared the Quantum II system with the API Yeast Ident (Analytab Products) and the AutoMicrobic System Yeast Biochemical Card (AMS-YBC; Vitek Systems, Inc.) for the identification of 221 clinical yeast isolates, including 120 common clinical isolates (Candida albicans, C. tropicalis, C. parapsilosis, Torulopsis glabrata, and Cryptococcus neoformans) and 101 relatively uncommon clinical isolates. The API 20C (Analytab) was used as the reference system. The Quantum II and AMS-YBC systems correctly identified 181 (82%) and 184 (83%) isolates, respectively, whereas the Yeast Ident system correctly identified 132 (60%) isolates. Of the 120 common clinical isolates, 113 (94%) were correctly identified by Quantum II, 103 (86%) were correctly identified by AMS-YBC, and 83 (69%) were correctly identified by Yeast Ident. Of the 101 uncommon clinical isolates tested, 68 (67%) were correctly identified by Quantum II, 81 (80%) were correctly identified by AMS-YBC, and 49 (49%) were correctly identified by Yeast Ident. The overall accuracy of the Quantum II, AMS-YBC, and API Yeast Ident was not sufficient to recommend any of these systems for routine use in the clinical microbiology laboratory without substantial expansion of the respective data bases.