title: Experience with a simplification of the petroff method for laboratory diagnosis of mycobacteria in sputum.
abstract: In the original Petroff procedure sputum is digested with NaOH and the centrifuged deposit neutralized with HCl before culturing. A modification in which digestion is arrested by dilution with water and the sediment is seeded on buffered media is simpler, quicker, safer and in our hands seems to give a greater number of positive smears and cultures for mycobacteria with less overgrowth by contaminants. The usefulness of regular smear examinations for excluding tuberculosis in nonspecific chest complaints is questioned.
mesh_terms: D001431:Bacteriological Techniques; D006801:Humans; D009161:Mycobacterium / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D013183:Sputum / Q000382:microbiology*