Contribution of the Ogawa-Kudoh swab culture method to the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis in Brazil

• Published in: The international journal of tuberculosis and lung disease Vol. 17; no. 6; pp. 782 - 786
• Main Authors: Palaci, M., Peres, R. L., Maia, R., Cunha, E. A. T., Ribeiro, M. O., Lecco, R., de Souza Ribeiro, C., Ferro e Silva, R. R., Vinhas, S. A., Dietze, R., Vianna, S., de Morais, C. G. V.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Paris, France International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease 01.06.2013; International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease
• Subjects: Acetylcysteine - chemistry; Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Bacilli; Bacterial diseases; Bacterial diseases of the respiratory system; Bacteriological Techniques - methods; Biological and medical sciences; Brazil - epidemiology; Culture; Diagnosis; Human bacterial diseases; Humans; Infectious diseases; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Mycobacterium; Ogawa-Kudoh Swab Method; Pneumology; Prospective Studies; Retrospective Studies; Sensitivity and Specificity; Sodium Hydroxide - chemistry; Sputum - microbiology; Tuberculosis; Tuberculosis and atypical mycobacterial infections; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary - diagnosis; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary - epidemiology; Young Adult; South America; Brazil; America; Lung disease; Methodology; Respiratory disease; Samplings; Pulmonary tuberculosis; tuberculosis; Mycobacterial infection; Method; Infection; Bacteriosis; Cultural aspect; Diagnosis; Technique; Culture; Ogawa-Kudoh swab method
• ISSN: 1027-3719; 1815-7920
• DOI: 10.5588/ijtld.12.0500

OBJECTIVE: To analyse the contribution of the Ogawa-Kudoh (O-K) swab culture method to the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) in four different regions of Brazil.DESIGN: This study was carried out in two phases. Phase 1 was designed to compare the direct swab culture method (O-K) with the culture concentrated method (N-acetyl-L-cysteine-sodium hydroxide [NALC-NaOH]); for this purpose, 569 sputum samples were cultured by both methods. Phase 2 was carried out to assess the contribution of the O-K method to the diagnosis of PTB in four different regions in Brazil, based on the evaluation of 19 163 sputum samples.RESULTS: In the first phase of the study, O-K culture had a sensitivity of 94.8% and specificity of 99.8% in cases confirmed by NALC-NaOH/Löwenstein-Jensen (LJ) culture. In the second phase of the study, the overall contribution of O-K culture compared to acid-fast bacilli (AFB) examination (AFB−/culture+) to the diagnosis of PTB was 29.8%.CONCLUSION: O-K culture contributes significantly to the diagnosis of smear-negative PTB. Importantly, this method allows the recovery of clinical isolates in areas where use of the standard culture centrifuge is impossible, indicating that the O-K swab culture method should become a standard method for TB diagnosis in these regions.