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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, April 2007, p. 1087-1092, Vol. 45, No. 4
0095-1137/07/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/JCM.01754-06
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Leslie Hall,1
Annette W. Fothergill,2
Davise H. Larone,3 and
Nancy L. Wengenack1*
Division of Clinical Microbiology, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, Minnesota 55905,1 Department of Clinical Pathology, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas 78229,2 Department of Clinical Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical Center, New York-Presbyterian Hospital, New York, New York 100213
Received 24 August 2006/ Returned for modification 23 October 2006/ Accepted 18 January 2007
The performance of the new VITEK 2 Advanced Colorimetry yeast identification (YST) card for use with the VITEK 2 system (bioMérieux, Inc., Hazelwood, MO) was compared to that of the API 20C AUX (API) system (bioMérieux SA, Marcy-l'Etoile, France) in a multicenter evaluation. A total of 12 quality control, 64 challenge, and 623 clinical yeast isolates were used in the study. Comparisons of species identification, platform reliability, and substrate reproducibility were made between YST and API, with API considered the reference standard. Quality control testing to assess system and substrate reproducibility matched expected results
95% of the time. The YST card correctly identified 100% of the challenge strains, which covered the species range of the manufacturer's performance claims. Using clinical isolates, the YST card correctly identified 98.5%, with 1.0% of isolates incorrectly identified and 0.5% unidentified. Among clinical isolates, the YST card generated fewer low-discrimination results (18.9%) than did API (30.0%). The time to identification with YST was 18 h, compared to 48 to 72 h with API. The colorimetric YST card used with the VITEK 2 provides a highly automated, objective yeast identification method with excellent performance and reproducibility. We found this system useful for timely and accurate identification of significant yeast species in the clinical microbiology laboratory.
Published ahead of print on 31 January 2007.
Present address: bioMérieux, Inc., Durham, NC 27712.
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