title: Comparison of the automated Bactec NR-660 with a conventional blood culture system.
abstract: The Bactec NR-660 blood culturing system was compared with a conventional system using 347 consecutively obtained clinical blood samples tested simultaneously. Of 46 clinically relevant isolates, 12 were detected by the conventional system only, 5 by Bactec only and 29 by both methods (0.05 less than p less than 0.10). The difference could not be explained by the results of additional in vitro tests. Of 12 isolates considered contaminants, 7 were isolated in the conventional system only, 2 in the Bactec system only and 3 in both systems (0.05 less than p less than 0.10). The two systems were approximately equal in speed of detection. A high rate of false indications of growth in the Bactec system could be reduced by applying different CO2 cut-off values.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology, University Hospital Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: van Elsacker-Niele
authors.forename: A T
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Lichtendahl-Bernards
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hermans
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Vandenbroucke
authors.forename: R P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Mouton
mesh_terms: D001322:Autoanalysis / Q000379:methods*; D001419:Bacteria / Q000302:isolation & purification; D001431:Bacteriological Techniques; D001769:Blood; D003470:Culture Media; D006801:Humans
chemical_list: D003470:Culture Media