title: Evaluation of Roche Amplicor PCR assay for Mycobacterium avium complex in bronchial washing.
abstract: METHODS
  A commercially available polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test (Roche AmplicorTM Mycobacterium avium and M. intracellulare assay-MAC-PCR) designed to detect M. avium complex (MAC) in bronchial washing was evaluated.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 141 specimens from 127 patients with various pulmonary conditions were examined. Results were compared with acid-fast smears, cultures with Ogawa egg medium, as is still commonly used in Japan, and final diagnoses.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A total of 14 bronchial washing specimens yielded MAC. Six smear- and culture-positive specimens were all MAC-PCR positive. In eight smear-negative and culture-positive specimens, six were MAC-PCR positive. The overall sensitivity versus culture was 85.7% (12/14). However, sensitivity might be over-estimated, as there is a lower recovery rate of MAC with egg-based medium compared with liquid media. In 127 patients, 15 were identified as having pulmonary MAC disease, of whom 13 had positive MAC-PCR in bronchial washing. In the remaining 112 patients, MAC-PCR was negative, which suggests that positive MAC-PCR was not a contaminated result. However, in terms of sensitivity and speed, we were unable to show any additional clinical benefit for using MAC-PCR as opposed to liquid media, in which MAC can frequently be detected in 7 to 14 days.
authors.affiliation: Department of Infection and Inflammation, Chest Disease Research Institute, Kyoto University, Japan. matsumo@kuhp.kyoto-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Matsumoto
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tsuyuguchi
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Amitani
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kuze
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001431:Bacteriological Techniques; D001992:Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid / Q000382:microbiology*; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015269:Mycobacterium avium Complex / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D015270:Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare Infection / Q000382:microbiology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity