Comparison of spiral gradient and conventional agar dilution for susceptibility testing of anaerobic bacteria

Antimicrobial susceptibility tests were performed on brucella laked blood agar with 340 isolates and 14 antimicrobial agents by the standard agar dilution technique and the spiral gradient technique in which antibiotic concentrations were established by diffusion from the agar surface. For comparison, spiral gradient MICs were determined by calculating antimicrobial concentrations at growth endpoints and rounding up to the next twofold incremental concentration. The cumulative percentage of strains susceptible at the breakpoint determined from spiral gradient data was within 10%, generally, of the percentage of strains susceptible at the breakpoint determined from agar dilution data. The overall agreement between the two techniques (within one doubling dilution) was 90.6%. The spiral gradient agar dilution technique is a reasonable alternative to the conventional agar dilution technique for susceptibility testing of anaerobic bacteria.