African Journal of
Microbiology Research

  • Abbreviation: Afr. J. Microbiol. Res.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN: 1996-0808
  • DOI: 10.5897/AJMR
  • Start Year: 2007
  • Published Articles: 5225

Full Length Research Paper

Evaluation of MODS culture in diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis

Zohreh Aminzadeh1,2*, Fatemeh Fallah2, Banafsheh Manafian3 and Parvaneh Baghaei4    
  1Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine Research Center, Shahid Beheshti Medical University, Tehran, Iran. 2Pediatric Infectious Diseases Research Center, Tehran, Iran and The University of Queensland Centre for Clinical Research, The University of Queensland, Herston, Brisbane, Australia. 3Imam Khomeini Hospital, Behshahr, Tehran, Iran. 4Massih Daneshvari Hospital, National Research Institute of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, Shahid Beheshti Medical University, Tehran, Iran.  
Email: [email protected]

  •  Accepted: 27 December 2011
  •  Published: 16 January 2012

Abstract

Culture of Mycobacterium tuberculosis is the gold standard for diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB) that is a much more sensitive test than smear examination. There is a need to use the new methods in order for fast diagnostic way. The aim of this research was to compare microscopic observation drug susceptibility culture with Ziehl-Neelsen stain and Lowenstein-Jensen culture of sputum. Therefore, a diagnostic test was designed. If the patient's history revealed clinical criteria compatible with tuberculosis and the infectious specialist judgment was that of "TB" suspected case, the patient was considered as a pulmonary TB suspect. We did sputum Ziehl-Neelsen stain, culture in Lowenstein-Jensen and MODS media. 100 patients with mean of 52.9 ± 21.83 were evaluated. 40% of patients revealed positive Ziehl-Neelsen stain while 30 and 47% showed positive results in Lowenstein-Jensen and MODS media respectively. In comparison with sputum smear and Lowenstein-Jensen culture, MODS had sensitivity of 82.5 and 86%, specificity of 77 and 70%, positive predictive value of 70 and 55%, negative predictive value of 86 and 92%, respectively. MODS culture demonstrated faster recovery and higher negative predictive value. Therefore, it could be a simple and rapid method in diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis.

 

Key words: Tuberculosis, Ziehl-Neelsen stain, Lowenstein-Jensen culture, sensitivity.