Evaluation of a two-reagent cold staining method for detection of acid-fast bacilli

Selvakumar, N and Gomathi, M and Rehman, F and Narayanan, P R (2002) Evaluation of a two-reagent cold staining method for detection of acid-fast bacilli. International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, 6 (8). pp. 728-731. ISSN Print: 1027-3719; Online: 1815-7920

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Abstract

SETTING: Tuberculosis Research Centre, Chennai, India. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate a two-reagent cold staining method for detection of acid-fast bacilli in sputum smears. SPUTUM SAMPLES: Two hundred and forty-four samples from pulmonary tuberculosis patients attending Tuberculosis Research Centre were used. METHODS AND DESIGN: Two smears were prepared from each of the samples, of which one was allotted to the two-reagent cold staining method and the other to the Ziehl- Neelsen (Z-N) method. The smears were read blind by a single technician. To ensure correct grading, a senior technician checked all positives and 20% of the negative smears. All the samples were processed by modified Petroff’s method for culture of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. RESULTS: The concordance (smear grade one above and one below) between the methods was 90% (kappa value, 0.7). The performance of the cold method and the Z-N method was similar when their smear results were compared with culture results (cold method vs. culture, kappa � 0.61; ZN method vs. culture, kappa � 0.67) CONCLUSION: The two-reagent cold staining method was found to be as sensitive and specific as the Z-N method. However, large-scale multicentric studies in different climatic conditions need to be conducted to assess its efficacy in the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	cold stain; AFB; Ziehl-Neelsen; tuberculosis
Subjects:	Tuberculosis > Laboratory Research > Bacteriological
Divisions:	Basic Science Research > Bacteriology
Depositing User:	Dr. Rathinasabapati R
Date Deposited:	08 Nov 2013 11:05
Last Modified:	10 Mar 2016 04:43
URI:	http://eprints.nirt.res.in/id/eprint/577

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