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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, January 2003, p. 469-471, Vol. 41, No. 1
0095-1137/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JCM.41.1.469-471.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Processing Sputum Specimens in a Refrigerated Centrifuge Does Not Increase the Rate of Isolation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis

N. Selvakumar,1* Dakshayani Govindan,1 Naik Ashok Chandu,1 Thomas R. Frieden,2 and P. R. Narayanan1

Tuberculosis Research Center, Indian Council of Medical Research, Chennai,1 World Health Organization Stop TB Unit, South East Asia Regional Office, New Delhi, India2

Received 5 August 2002/ Returned for modification 25 September 2002/ Accepted 3 November 2002

A total of 1,047 sputum samples from pulmonary tuberculosis patients was collected in cetyl pyridinium chloride-sodium chloride solution. Each sample was divided into two parts and randomly allocated for the isolation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, with one part to be processed by the standard method and the other by a modified method. In the standard method, the samples were processed by using nonrefrigerated centrifuges, while in the modified method, they were processed by using a refrigerated centrifuge. Fifty-seven samples that yielded contaminants were excluded, and the remaining 990 samples were taken up for analysis. The rates of isolation of M. tuberculosis with the standard and modified methods were 48.6 and 48.1%, respectively, and the difference was not statistically significant (McNemar's test; P > 0.5). However, 51% of the positive cultures were isolated within 2 weeks with the modified method compared to 37% with the standard method (chi-square test; P < 0.001). The results of the study reveal that processing of sputum samples in a refrigerated centrifuge does not improve the rate of isolation but will result in rapid isolation of M. tuberculosis.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Tuberculosis Research Center (ICMR), Mayor V. R. Ramanathan Rd., Chetput, Chennai 600031, India. Phone: 91-44-8265425. Fax: 91-44-8262137. E-mail: selvakumarn{at}hotmail.com.

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, January 2003, p. 469-471, Vol. 41, No. 1
0095-1137/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JCM.41.1.469-471.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

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