Comparative evaluation of various methods for the detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in clinically suspected pulmonary tuberculosis patients

Srishti Goel; Pushpa Devi; Kanwardeep Singh

Volume : IV, Issue : VII, July - 2015

Comparative evaluation of various methods for the detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in clinically suspected pulmonary tuberculosis patients

Srishti Goel, Pushpa Devi, Kanwardeep Singh

Abstract :

BACKGROUND: Pulmonary Tuberculosis (PTB) is one of the most common infectious diseases in the world.The transmission of PTB can be reduced by early detection and cure of infectious cases. So, there is a need for emergence of new techniques for the more precise and rapid identification of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in clinical samples. AIMS: To compare BACTEC MGIT 960 (M960) with conventional culture on Lowenstein Jensen (LJ) media and direct acid fast bacilli (AFB) smear examination for the detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in clinically suspected cases of Pulmonary Tuberculosis. METHODS & MATERIAL: A total of one hundred and fifty sputum samples from suspected cases of PTB were evaluated. Specimens were processed for direct AFB smear examination and culture on M960 and LJ media. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Student ‘t‘ test was used and p value was calculated. RESULTS: Among suspected cases, 41/150 (27.33%) samples were positive by M960 culture, 34/150 (22.67%) by LJ media and 35/150 (23.33%) by direct AFB smear examination. The mean time to detect growth was 8.9 days on M960 and 20.8 days on LJ media. CONCLUSION: M960 system is a dependable, high–capacity, compact, fully automated, non invasive and continuously monitored instrument. It considerably improves the recovery and decreases the time required to detect Mycobacterium tuberculosis from human clinical samples than the traditional LJ slant.