title: [Utility of prolonged incubation and terminal subcultures of blood cultures from immunocompromised patients].
abstract: The value of blind terminal subcultures (7 and 30 days) and prolonged incubation (30 days) of blood cultures from immunosuppressed patients was analyzed in the Fundación Favaloro, the Fundación para la Lucha contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia and the Hospital de Niños Ricardo Gutiérrez. A total of 2707 blood cultures and 369 patients were included (transplantation of solid organs 154, oncohematologic disorders 106 and solid tumors 109). Bact-Alert bottles were incubated at 35 degrees C for 30 days in the Bact-Alert System. Bottles with positive signals were routinely removed, and aliquots of the broth were Gram stained and subcultured aerobically in chocolate agar and Sabouraud agar. A total of 136 bacteremic episodes were obtained. The positivization time of blood cultures was 81.6% at 24 h, 93.3% at 48 h, 94.5% at 72 h and 97.7% within 7 days. Only 3 (2.2%) episodes were positive by blind terminal subcultures and 1 (0.75%) by prolonged incubation (14 days). The median time and range of positivization in hours were 13.8 and 2.2-168, respectively. The microorganisms isolated were coagulase negative staphylococci (n = 24), Klebsiella pneumoniae (n = 22), Staphylococcus aureus (n = 21), Escherichia coli (n = 18), Acinetobacter spp (n = 9), Candida spp (n = 8), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (n = 6), Enterobacter cloacae (n = 5), Stenotrophomonas maltophilia (n = 5), Enterococcus faecalis, Salmonella spp and Capnocytophaga sputigena (n = 2), Enterobacter aerogenes, Enterococcus faecium, Citrobacter diversus, Candida albicans, Klebsiella oxytoca, Chryseomonas luteola, Serratia marcescens, Abiotrophia spp, Campylobacter jejuni, Moraxella catarrhalis, Moraxella urethralis, Neisseria sicca, beta hemolytic group G streptococci, Rhodococcus equi, Micrococcus spp, Cryptococcus neoformans and Streptococcus mitis (n = 1). In our experience, blind terminal subcultures and prolonged incubation of blood cultures from immunosuppressed patients are unnecessary and cost expensive.
authors.affiliation: División Laboratorio, Sección Microbiología, Dto. de Investigación Clínica, Instituto de Cardiología y Cirugía Cardiovascular, Fundación Favaloro, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Soloaga
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Procopio
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Manganello
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Ivanovic
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Romay
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Pirosanto
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fernández
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zudiker
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Echeverría
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Nagel
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: del Castillo
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: López
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Gutfraind
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tokumoto
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Guelfand
mesh_terms: D016470:Bacteremia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000382:microbiology*; D001419:Bacteria / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D001431:Bacteriological Techniques / Q000191:economics; D001769:Blood / Q000382:microbiology*; D003470:Culture Media; D006801:Humans; D016867:Immunocompromised Host; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000097:blood / Q000382:microbiology; D016037:Single-Blind Method; D013997:Time Factors; D014180:Transplantation
chemical_list: D003470:Culture Media