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. 1998 Sep;36(9):2769-71.
doi: 10.1128/JCM.36.9.2769-2771.1998.

Cord formation in BACTEC medium is a reliable, rapid method for presumptive identification of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex

Y S McCarter  1 , I N Ratkiewicz, A Robinson
Affiliations

Cord formation in BACTEC medium is a reliable, rapid method for presumptive identification of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex

Y S McCarter et al. J Clin Microbiol. 1998 Sep.

Abstract

Serpentine cord formation in BACTEC 12B medium was evaluated as a rapid method for the presumptive identification of M. tuberculosis complex. Kinyoun acid-fast stained smears were prepared from 666 positive BACTEC 12B bottles and examined for the presence or absence of serpentine cording. Cord formation had a sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of 89.2, 99.2, 98.5, and 94.2%, respectively. The evaluation of the presence of cord formation in BACTEC 12B medium is reliable and permits the rapid presumptive reporting of M. tuberculosis.

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Figures

FIG. 1
FIG. 1
Microscopic morphology of Mycobacterium species grown in BACTEC 12B broth and stained with Kinyoun acid-fast stain (magnification, ×900). (A) M. tuberculosis, exhibiting serpentine cording. (B) Mycobacterium species other than M. tuberculosis that exhibit loose aggregates, referred to as pseudocording. (C) Mycobacterium species other than M. tuberculosis that exhibit loosely massed organisms.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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