Evaluation of the fully automated Bactec MGIT 960 system for the susceptibility testing of Mycobacterium tuberculosis to first-line drugs: a multicenter study.

The accuracy of the Bactec MGIT 960 system for susceptibility testing of 177 clinical isolates of Mycobacterium tuberculosis to first line drugs (isoniazid, rifampicin, ethambutol and streptomycin) was compared with the agar reference method. The sensitivity, the ability to detect resistance, of the MGIT system was 100%, while the specificity, the ability to detect susceptibility, ranged from 98.6% to 100% for all drugs tested.

Combined use of the fully automated Bactec MGIT 960 system and a PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis for routine detection and identification of mycobacteria from clinical samples.

The combined use of Bactec MGIT 960 system and a PCR-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) analysis was assessed for the rapid detection and identification of mycobacteria from clinical samples. The diagnostic sensitivity and the time of detection of MGIT 960 system were significantly higher than of Löwenstein-Jensen medium. PCR-RFLP identification analysis results were in concordance with those obtained by the conventional biochemical tests.