Length of time to laboratory diagnosis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection: comparison of in-house methods with reference laboratory results.
OBJECTIVE
To audit the time taken to obtain laboratory confirmation of infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis using in-house methods of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and culture and referral to a reference laboratory.


METHODS
Retrospective collection of data from laboratory records covering a period of 1 year.


RESULTS
Median time to microbiological diagnosis of a new infection using the in-house services in addition to the reference laboratory was 22.0 days. Using reference laboratory results alone, median time to diagnosis would have been 61.5 days.


CONCLUSIONS
Development of on-site laboratory facilities to identify Mycobacterium tuberculosis can reduce the time to its identification by almost two-thirds.
Davies
A P
AP
Department of Medical Microbiology, Royal Free Hospital, London, UK.
Newport
L E
LE
Billington
O J
OJ
Gillespie
S H
SH
D019411:Clinical Laboratory Techniques; D006801:Humans; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000302:isolation & purification; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013997:Time Factors; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000175:diagnosis*