PURPOSE To study the usefulness of simultaneous combination culture with egg-based Ogawa medium (1 slant) and MGIT (Mycobacterium growth indicator tube/Becton-Dickinson) for detection of M. tuberculosis from sputum in sputum-culture proven pulmonary tuberculosis patients. OBJECT AND METHOD Retrospective study of sputum-culture-positive pulmonary tuberculosis cases in our hospital (with tuberc...

With interest, we read the paper “Integrating the Xpert MTB/ RIF Assay into a Diagnostic Workflow for Rapid Detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in a Low-Prevalence Area” by Deggim et al. (1). Based on the failed detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTB) by the Xpert assay (GeneXpert; Cepheid, Sunnyvale, CA) in 3 of 4 culture-positive nonrespiratory specimens, the authors conclud...

■ The clinical importance of mycobacterial infections is increasing, particularly as a result of AIDS. The diagnosis of these infections has been traditionally dependent on culture followed by biochemical analysis. These procedures are time consuming and labor intensive; diagnosis can take as long as six weeks. In combination with automated culturing systems such as the BACTEC460TB and the BACT...