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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, March 2009, p. 804-806, Vol. 47, No. 3
0095-1137/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JCM.01444-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Unreliable Detection of Mycobacterium xenopi by the Nonradiometric Bactec MGIT 960 Culture System{triangledown}

Claudio Piersimoni,* Domenico Nista, Stefano Bornigia, and Giancarlo Gherardi

Department of Clinical Microbiology, United Hospitals, Ancona, Italy

Received 28 July 2008/ Returned for modification 27 October 2008/ Accepted 3 January 2009

From June 2006 to December 2007, 3,648 clinical specimens consecutively received for mycobacterial culture were investigated. Each processed sample was inoculated into Bactec MGIT 960 liquid medium and a Löwenstein-Jensen slant. Tubes that were flagged as positive by the instrument as well as those determined to be negative after 42 days of incubation were removed, visually inspected for growth, and checked for the presence of acid-fast bacilli. Three hundred sixty-nine mycobacterial strains were recovered; of the 44 Mycobacterium xenopi isolates recovered by MGIT medium, only 13 were detected by the instrument (P < 0.0001). Most tubes yielding M. xenopi exhibited a peculiar pattern of growth characterized by a scant number of round, yellow-pigmented granules instead of the fine, evenly dispersed clumps usually observed for mycobacteria. It is suggested to check all individual tubes discarded by the MGIT 960 system at the end of the incubation period to prevent a significant amount of previously undetected growth from being missed.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Clinical Microbiology, United Hospitals, Via Conca 71, Ancona I-60020, Italy. Phone: 39-071-596-3049. Fax: 39-071-596-4184. E-mail: piersim{at}tin.it

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 14 January 2009.

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, March 2009, p. 804-806, Vol. 47, No. 3
0095-1137/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JCM.01444-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





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