Medical test to detect & identify bacteria or fungi in lung airways
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Sputum culture" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR(December 2009) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
Sputum culture
Cocci-shaped Enterococcus sp. bacteria taken from a pneumonia patient
ICD-9
90.42
[edit on Wikidata]
A sputum culture is a test to detect and identify bacteria[1] or fungi that infect the lungs or breathing passages. Sputum is a thick fluid produced in the lungs and in the adjacent airways. Normally, fresh morning sample is preferred for the bacteriological examination of sputum.[2] A sample of sputum is collected in a sterile, wide-mouthed, dry, leak-proof and break-resistant plastic-container and sent to the laboratory for testing.[2] Sampling may be performed by sputum being expectorated (produced by coughing), induced (saline is sprayed in the lungs to induce sputum production), or taken via an endotracheal tube with a protected specimen brush (commonly used on patients on respirators) in an intensive care setting. For selected organisms such as Cytomegalovirus or "Pneumocystis jiroveci" in specific clinical settings (immunocompromised patients) a bronchoalveolar lavage might be taken by an experienced pneumologist. If no bacteria or fungi grow, the culture is negative. If organisms that can cause the infection (Pathogenicity organisms) grow, the culture is positive. The type of bacterium or fungus is identified by microscopy, colony morphology and biochemical tests of bacterial growth.
If bacteria or fungi that can cause infection grow in the culture, other tests can determine which antimicrobial agent will most effectively treat the infection. This is called susceptibility or sensitivity testing.
In a hospital setting, a sputum culture is most commonly ordered if a patient has a pneumonia. The Infectious Diseases Society of America recommends that sputum cultures be done in pneumonia requiring hospitalization, while the American College of Chest Physicians does not. One reason for such a discrepancy is that normal, healthy lungs have bacteria, and sputum cultures collect both normal and pathogenic bacteria. However, pure cultures of common respiratory pathogens in the absence of upper respiratory flora combined with symptoms of respiratory distress provides strong evidence of the infectious agent, and its significance. Such pathogens include Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae and the highly infectious M tuberculosis, which are transmitted by inhaling aerosols. For this reason, laboratory processing of sputum for respiratory pathogens are performed with the aid of a biological safety cabinet.
^D. Behera (2010). Textbook of Pulmonary Medicine. JP Medical Ltd. p. 284. ISBN 978-81-8448-749-7.
^ abDg, Dayyal (21 May 2018). "Examination of Sputum". BioScience.
A sputumculture is a test to detect and identify bacteria or fungi that infect the lungs or breathing passages. Sputum is a thick fluid produced in the...
angiography. Laboratory tests blood test: WBC Sputum: cells and bacterial examinations, sputumculture Bronchial fiber endoscopy The most common causes...
or if cultures cannot be promptly obtained from the main site of infection (for example, a urine culture in pyelonephritis or a sputumculture in severe...
typically based on the presenting history, symptoms, chest X-ray, and sputumculture. Differentiating from other types of pneumonia may be difficult. Treatment...
infection; such as a blood culture sample when bacteria are suspected to be present in the bloodstream (bacteraemia), a sputum sample in the case of a pneumonia...
symptoms and physical examination. Chest X-rays, blood tests, and culture of the sputum may help confirm the diagnosis. The disease may be classified by...
Cultures by body site Blood culture Genital cultureSputumculture Throat culture Urine culture Wound cultureCultures by organism Bacterial culture Fungal...
A growth medium or culture medium is a solid, liquid, or semi-solid designed to support the growth of a population of microorganisms or cells via the...
sputum, pus, or a tissue biopsy). However, the difficult culture process for this slow-growing organism can take two to six weeks for blood or sputum...
susceptibility test, disc-diffusion antibiotic sensitivity test and KB test) is a culture-based microbiology assay used in diagnostic and drug discovery laboratories...
Cultures by body site Blood culture Genital cultureSputumculture Throat culture Urine culture Wound cultureCultures by organism Bacterial culture Fungal...
Cultures by body site Blood culture Genital cultureSputumculture Throat culture Urine culture Wound cultureCultures by organism Bacterial culture Fungal...
Cultures by body site Blood culture Genital cultureSputumculture Throat culture Urine culture Wound cultureCultures by organism Bacterial culture Fungal...
Cultures by body site Blood culture Genital cultureSputumculture Throat culture Urine culture Wound cultureCultures by organism Bacterial culture Fungal...
cause the exacerbation, which helps in choosing the best treatment. A sputumculture can specify which strain is causing a bacterial AECB. An early morning...
A throat culture is a laboratory diagnostic test that evaluates for the presence of a bacterial or fungal infection in the throat. A sample from the throat...
"Bronchiectasis in a diverse US population: effects of ethnicity on etiology and sputumculture". Chest. 142 (1): 159–167. doi:10.1378/chest.11-1024. PMID 22267679...
a primary stain (crystal violet) to a heat-fixed smear of a bacterial culture. Heat fixation kills some bacteria but is mostly used to affix the bacteria...
Cultures by body site Blood culture Genital cultureSputumculture Throat culture Urine culture Wound cultureCultures by organism Bacterial culture Fungal...
that results in bacterial death. It is defined by the inability to re-culture bacteria, and the closer the MIC is to the MBC, the more bactericidal the...
pneumonia Fever, rigors, cough, and runny nose, chest pain Sputum Gram stain and culture, Chest radiography Antibiotics No List of bacterial vaginosis...
change in color following a reaction with an added reagent. Pure bacterial culture must be grown in sterile tryptophan or peptone broth for 24–48 hours before...
cytopathic effects, then the culture is positive. Traditional viral culture has been generally superseded by shell vial culture, in which the sample is centrifuged...
[page needed] Kumar Pius PS, Alexis A, P SK, Ganesan M (2017). "Diagnosis of SputumCulture Positive Organisms and Their Antimicrobial Sensitivity Profile in a...
Global Information
