title: Evaluation of the phenol ammonium sulfate sedimentation smear microscopy method for diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis.
abstract: We compared the sensitivity and specificity of the phenol ammonium sulfate (PhAS) sediment smear microscopy method for detection of acid-fast bacilli with those of direct smear microscopy, using culture results for Mycobacterium tuberculosis as the "gold standard." The sensitivities of the PhAS and direct smear methods were 85% (465 of 547) and 83% (454 of 547), respectively, and the specificity of each method was 97%. The PhAS method was better accepted by the laboratory technicians and safer but necessitates an overnight sedimentation, which delays reporting of results until 1 day after sputum collection.
authors.affiliation: Tuberculosis Research Centre (ICMR), Chetput, Chennai, India. selvakumarn@hotmail.com
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Selvakumar
authors.forename: Fathima
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rahman
authors.forename: Renu
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Garg
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rajasekaran
authors.forename: Nalini Sunder
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Mohan
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Thyagarajan
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Sundaram
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Santha
authors.forename: Thomas R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Frieden
authors.forename: P R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Narayanan
mesh_terms: D000645:Ammonium Sulfate; D001431:Bacteriological Techniques; D003470:Culture Media; D006801:Humans; D008853:Microscopy / Q000379:methods; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D019800:Phenol; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013048:Specimen Handling / Q000379:methods*; D013183:Sputum / Q000382:microbiology*; D013194:Staining and Labeling; D014397:Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / Q000175:diagnosis*
chemical_list: D003470:Culture Media; D019800:Phenol; D000645:Ammonium Sulfate