Radiometric detection of yeasts in blood cultures of cancer patients.
During a 12-month period, 19,457 blood cultures were collected. Yeasts were isolated from 193 cultures derived from 76 cancer patients. Candida albicans or Candida tropicalis accounted for 79% of isolates. Of the three methods compared, the radiometric method required 2.9 days to become positive, "blind" subculture required 2.6 days, and Gram stains required 1 day. However, the radiometric method was clearly superior in detecting positive cultures, since 73% of all cultures were first detected radiometrically, 22% were detected by subculture, and only 5% were detected by Gram stain. Although 93% of the isolates were detected by aerobic culture, five (7%) isolates were obtained only from anaerobic cultures. Seven days of incubation appear to be sufficient for the radiometric detection of yeasts.
D000332:Aerobiosis; D000693:Anaerobiosis; D001769:Blood / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D008828:Microbiological Techniques; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000382:microbiology*; D011874:Radiometry; D013045:Species Specificity; D015003:Yeasts / Q000302:isolation & purification*