Not everything acid fast is Mycobacterium tuberculosis--a case report.
The Ziehl-Neelsen (ZN) stain is important in identifying organisms that are acid fast, principally Mycobacterium tuberculosis. However, decolorisation with a weaker acid concentration (for example 1% hydrochloric acid), often used in ZN staining in histology, can result in a wider variety of organisms appearing acid fast and can be a cause of misidentification. To illustrate this point, a patient is described with pulmonary nocardiosis who was misdiagnosed as having tuberculous empyema on pleural biopsy.
Olson
E S
ES
Department of Medical Microbiology, St Bartholomew's Hospital, London, UK.
Simpson
A J
AJ
Norton
A J
AJ
Das
S S
SS
D000368:Aged; D004396:Coloring Agents; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D009617:Nocardia Infections / Q000175:diagnosis*; D009616:Nocardia asteroides / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D010994:Pleura / Q000382:microbiology*; D010995:Pleural Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D014396:Tuberculosis, Pleural / Q000175:diagnosis
D004396:Coloring Agents