title: Efficiency of the TK Culture System in the diagnosis of tuberculosis.
abstract: We have evaluated the efficiency of the TK Rapid Mycobacterial Culture System in isolating mycobacteria from clinical samples and in susceptibility testing. The TK Medium indicates mycobacterial growth by changing its color from red to yellow. During a 1-year period, 16,303 clinical samples were inoculated to TK selective (TK SLC) and Löwenstein-Jensen media (LJ). Mycobacteria were isolated in 2150 (13.04%) samples in at least 1 type of medium. While LJ isolated mycobacteria from 1920 (11.69%) of all samples, TK SLC isolated 2070 (12.63%). Among all positives, the isolation rates for LJ and TK SLC were 89.30% and 96.27%, respectively. Contamination of cultures by other organisms was observed in 878 (5.33%) LJ tubes and in 90 (0.55%) TK SLC tubes. On average, time-to-growth detection was 15.57 days in TK SLC and 25.14 days in LJ. The modes of time-to-growth detection were 12 and 25 days for TK SLC and LJ, respectively. The reliability of antimycobacterial susceptibility testing was checked by 36 Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains with known susceptibility patterns which were obtained from the World Health Organization collection and by participating in an external quality control program. All susceptibility results, except for a few borderline-resistant strains, were consistent with the expected susceptibility patterns. The TK Rapid Mycobacterial Culture System is a practical and reliable automated system that shortens the time required for both culture and susceptibility results. All types of TK Media are ready to use, saving time and effort as well as drastically reducing contamination during testing.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology, School of Medicine, Acıbadem University, Istanbul, Turkey. tk05-k@tr.net
authors.forename: Tanıl
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kocagöz
authors.forename: Sedat
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Altın
authors.forename: Özgül
authors.initials: Ö
authors.lastname: Türkyılmaz
authors.forename: İlhan
authors.initials: İ
authors.lastname: Taş
authors.forename: Perihan
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Karaduman
authors.forename: Dilek
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bolaban
authors.forename: Elif
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Yeşilyurt
authors.forename: Sinem
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Öktem
authors.forename: Nihan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Aytekin
authors.forename: Gülçe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Şınık
authors.forename: Erkan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mozioğlu
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Silier
mesh_terms: D000995:Antitubercular Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001331:Automation; D001431:Bacteriological Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D003470:Culture Media / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests / Q000379:methods; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013183:Sputum / Q000382:microbiology; D013997:Time Factors; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D000995:Antitubercular Agents; D003470:Culture Media