Open AccessSpecimen Dilution Improves Sensitivity of the Amplified Mycobacterium tuberculosis Direct Test for Smear Microscopy-Positive Respiratory Specimens
Author(s) -
Renata Leborato Guerra,
James F. Baker,
Roya Alborz,
Derek T Armstrong,
Julia A. Kiehlbauch,
Marcus Barreto Conde,
Susan E. Dorman,
Nancy Hooper
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
journal of clinical microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.349
H-Index - 255
eISSN - 1070-633X
pISSN - 0095-1137
DOI - 10.1128/jcm.01313-07
Subject(s) - mycobacterium tuberculosis , tuberculosis , medicine , microbiology and biotechnology , dilution , microscopy , respiratory system , pathology , biology , physics , thermodynamics
Specimen dilution has been proposed as a strategy to minimize amplifiedMycobacterium tuberculosis direct (MTD) test inhibition (N. Pollock, J. Westerling, and A. Sloutsky, Am. J. Clin. Pathol. 126:142-147, 2006; A. Sloutsky, L. L. Han, and B. G. Werner, J. Clin. Microbiol. 42:1547-1551, 2004). We evaluated the impact of respiratory specimen dilution on MTD test accuracy in a public health laboratory. The difference in MTD test sensitivity between the dilution and conventional methods was 15.9% (P = 0.001) for smear microscopy-positive specimens and −3.6% (P = 0.38) for smear microscopy-negative specimens.