Comparison of Lowenstein-Jensen medium and MGIT culture system for recovery of Mycobacterium tuberculosis from abscess samples

In this study, our aim was to assess Lowenstein-Jensen (L-J) medium and MGIT culture system for recovery of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) from abscess samples in skeletal tuberculosis (TB) cases. Abscess samples were collected from patients suggestive of skeletal TB in Beijing Chest Hospital for laboratory examination, including smear microscopy, L-J culture and MGIT culture. Of the 232 abscess samples, 72 (31.0%) were culture-positive for mycobacteria. Of 72 isolates recovered, 94.4% were detected in MGIT 960 and 75.0% on L-J medium. MGIT could recover significantly higher rate of MTB isolates from smear-positive specimens than L-J medium. The mean time to detection of MTB in MGIT 960 was significantly lower than that on L-J medium. The BACTEC MGIT 960 outperforms the conventional L-J medium in recovering MTB from abscess samples. The combination of MGIT and L-J method also increases the overall recovery rate of MTB in culture. •We compared L-J medium and MGIT culture system for recovery of MTB from abscess samples in skeletal tuberculosis cases.•The BACTEC MGIT 960 outperforms the conventional L-J medium in recovering MTB from abscess samples.•The mean time to detection of MTB is 21.4 days in MGIT 960 and 38.6 days on L-J medium.