Evaluation of BACTEC MYCO/F lytic medium for recovery of mycobacteria and fungi from blood.

The reliability of MYCO/F Lytic medium in the BACTEC 9240 blood culture system was evaluated by comparing its performance to that of the Isolator system for the recovery of fungi and to that of the ESP II system for the recovery of mycobacteria. Of 717 specimens of blood cultured for fungi, 24 were positive; 12 samples were positive with both systems, 7 samples were positive with the Isolator system only, and 5 samples were positive with MYCO/F Lytic medium only. Fourteen samples grew Histoplasma capsulatum; both systems detected H. capsulatum in seven samples but the Isolator system alone detected H. capsulatum in seven samples. The mean times to the detection of H. capsulatum were 8 days (range, 4 to 13 days) for MYCO/F Lytic medium and 9 days (range, 6 to 18 days) for the Isolator system; the mean times to identification were 20 days (range, 15 to 24 days) for isolates recovered with MYCO/F Lytic medium and 11 days (range, 6 to 18 days) for those recovered with the Isolator system (P < 0.05). Cryptococcus neoformans was isolated from 10 fungal cultures; five isolates grew in both systems, and five isolates grew in MYCO/F Lytic medium only. The mean times to detection of C. neoformans were 4 days (range, 2 to 6 days) for MYCO/F Lytic medium and 7 days (range, 5 to 7 days) for the Isolator system (P < 0.05); the mean times to identification were 15 days (range, 7 to 27 days) for isolates recovered with MYCO/F Lytic medium and 8 days (range, 7 to 11 days) for those recovered with the Isolator system. Of the 687 samples of blood cultured for mycobacteria, 64 blood samples from 42 patients grew mycobacteria (58 grew Mycobacterium avium complex, 4 grew Mycobacterium kansasii, and 2 grew Mycobacterium tuberculosis); 42 isolates were recovered with both systems, 18 were isolated with MYCO/F medium only, and 4 were isolated with the ESP II system only alone (P < 0.05). The mean time to detection of mycobacteria with MYCO/F Lytic medium was 14 days, whereas it was 17 days with the ESP II system (P < 0.05). In summary, the combination of MYCO/F Lytic medium and the BACTEC 9240 instrument is an excellent blood culture system for the growth and detection of mycobacteria. A valid assessment of MYCO/F Lytic medium with regard to fungal isolation, however, was not possible due to the small number of isolates recovered.