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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, October 2001, p. 3743-3746, Vol. 39, No. 10
0095-1137/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/JCM.39.10.3743-3746.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Diagnostic Yield of a PCR Assay in Focal Complications of Brucellosis

P. Morata,1 M. I. Queipo-Ortuño,1 J. M. Reguera,2 F. Miralles,2 J. J. Lopez-Gonzalez,3 and J. D. Colmenero2,*

Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Málaga University,1 and Infectious Diseases Unit, Internal Medicine Department,2 and Microbiology Service,3 "Carlos Haya" University Hospital, Málaga, Spain

Received 20 February 2001/Returned for modification 1 June 2001/Accepted 23 July 2001

In order to evaluate the diagnostic yield of a PCR assay for patients with focal complications of brucellosis, we studied by PCR and by conventional microbiological techniques 34 nonblood samples from 32 patients with different focal forms of brucellosis. The samples from patients with brucellosis were paired to an equal number of control samples from the same locations of patients whose illnesses had different etiologies. Thirty-three of the 34 nonblood samples (97%) from the brucellosis patients were positive by PCR, whereas Brucella spp. were isolated from only 29.4% of the conventional cultures. For 11.4% of the patients, the confirmatory serological tests were either negative or showed titers below the diagnostic range. Two patients (6.2%) from the control group, both with tuberculous vertebral osteomyelitis, had a positive PCR result. The brucella PCR of blood from these two patients was also positive, and the two strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolated were analyzed by the brucella PCR, with no evidence of amplification. These results show that the PCR assay is far more sensitive than conventional cultures, and this, coupled with its speed and reduction in risk to laboratory workers, makes this technique a very useful tool for the diagnosis of focal complications of brucellosis.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Unidad de Enfermedades Infecciosas, Departamento de Medicina Interna, Hospital Universitario Carlos Haya, C/Avda. Carlos Haya s/n, 29010 Malaga, Spain. Phone: 34 952645809. Fax: 34 952645805. E-mail: colmene{at}interbook.net.

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, October 2001, p. 3743-3746, Vol. 39, No. 10
0095-1137/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/JCM.39.10.3743-3746.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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