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Cord formation in BACTEC medium is a reliable, rapid method for presumptive identification of Mycobacterium
Y S McCarter1, I N Ratkiewicz, A Robinson
1Division of Microbiology, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Hartford Hospital, Hartford, Connecticut 06102-5037, USA. ymccart@harthosp.org
Abstract:
Serpentine cord formation in BACTEC 12B medium was evaluated as a rapid method for the presumptive identification of M. tuberculosis complex. Kinyoun acid-fast stained smears were prepared from 666 positive BACTEC 12B bottles and examined for the presence or absence of serpentine cording. Cord formation had a sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of 89.2, 99.2, 98.5, and 94.2%, respectively. The evaluation of the presence of cord formation in BACTEC 12B medium is reliable and permits the rapid presumptive reporting of M. tuberculosis.