UTILIZATION OF THE BACTEC SYSTEM TB-460 F OR THE BACTERIOLOGICAL DIAGNOSIS OF TUBERCULOSIS - RESULTS OF A MULTICENTRIC STUDY

Isolation of Mycobacteria on Loewenstein-Jensen medium lasts many week s. The use of Radiometric method (Bactec TB 460) reduces the delays. R esults of 79 064 cultures are reported from a multicentric study assoc iating 16 laboratories. The average was 4.8 % of positivity and 2.51 % of contamination. The comparison of the results with conventional met hod previously obtained shows that radiometric method is more sensitiv e and contaminations are less numerous. Concerning hemocultures the Ba ctec method is very usefull. Among 11 277 tests performed 907 were pos itive (8.04 %). Mycobacterium avium was identified in 89 % of the case s. Identification test utilizes Biochemical and NAP tests, but also mo re and more Nucleic probes. The antibiotic sensitivity is performed in five days. The mean delay of analysis is about 25 days, lessening by half the conventional method delays. Nevertheless, Bactec method has t he following inconvenients: syringe inoculation, use of radiolabelled products, expensive cost.