Detection of penicillin-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae with commercially available broth microdilution panels

We compared penicillin MICs obtained with three different commercially available broth microdilution panels (MicroScan, Sensititre, and Pasco) with MICs obtained with reference microdilution panels for 20 well-characterized pneumococci with decreased susceptibilities to penicillin (7 resistant and 13 intermediate). All panels were supplemented with 2 to 5% lysed horse blood (LHB) prepared in-house. Additional supplements included fastidious inoculum broth (FIB) for MicroScan panels and commercially prepared LHB (Difco) for Pasco panels. The percentages of penicillin-resistant strains (MIC 2 micrograms/ml) detected by the different methods follow: MicroScan-FIB, 0; MicroScan-LHB 0; Pasco in-house LHB, 71; and Sensititre-LHB, 100. The percentages of intermediate strains (MIC = 0.1 to 1.0 micrograms/ml) detected by the different methods follow: MicroScan-FIB, 31; MicroScan-LHB 23; Pasco in-house LHB, 46; and Sensititre-LHB, 85. Difco LHB supplement failed to support the growth of 86% of the strains in the Pasco panels. Of the commercially available panels evaluated, only Sensititre, supplemented with LHB prepared in-house could reliably detect penicillin-resistant pneumococci.