title: The yield of different pleural fluid volumes for Mycobacterium tuberculosis culture.
abstract: We prospectively compared the culture yields of two pleural fluid volumes (5 and 100 ml) inoculated in liquid culture medium in 77 patients of whom 58 (75.3%) were diagnosed with pleural tuberculosis. The overall fluid culture yield was high (60.3% of cases with pleural tuberculosis). The larger volume had a faster time to positivity (329 vs 376 h, p=0.055) but its yield was not significantly higher (53.5% vs 50%; p=0.75). HIV-positive patients were more likely to have positive cultures (78.9% vs 51.5%; p=0.002).
authors.forename: Florian
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: von Groote-Bidlingmaier
authors.forename: Coenraad Frederik
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Koegelenberg
authors.forename: Chris T
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Bolliger
authors.forename: Pui Khi
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.forename: Cornelia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rautenbach
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Wasserman
authors.forename: Maurizio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bernasconi
authors.forename: Sven Olaf
authors.initials: SO
authors.lastname: Friedrich
authors.forename: Andreas Henri
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Diacon
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001431:Bacteriological Techniques; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D010996:Pleural Effusion / Q000382:microbiology*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D014396:Tuberculosis, Pleural / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology*; D055815:Young Adult