| Ordering Code | 651S |
|---|---|
| Test Name | Acid Fast Smear and Culture Sterile |
| Alias | AFB Smear and Culture Mycobacteria smear and culture TB smear and culture MAI smear and culture NTM smear and culture |
| Preferred Specimen | Tissue, Sterile body fluids (CSF, Pleural fluid, etc) |
| Preferred Container | Sterile container |
| Optimum Volume | Sterile Body Fluids (CSF, Pleural fluid, etc): 5 mL Tissue: 1 g |
| Collection Instructions | If large volume of fluid is collected, send a 10 mL aliquot of a well-mixed specimen. If a syringe is to be submitted, remove needle and use a luer-tip to cap the syringe before submitting to the laboratory. |
| Handling Instructions | Requests on isolates submitted by other clients are to be ordered as order code 4534. An indentification will be performed and charged if an organism ID is not provided Ensure agar slant is appropriate for the type of organism submitted. Culture must be viable, pure, and safely contained (for air transport, agar plate is not acceptable & potentially biohazardous). Air transported specimens must be packaged according to infectious shipment regulations. A processing fee will be assessed if mixed isolates are submitted. |
| Transport Requirements | Oahu: Refrigerated Airline: Refrigerated |
| Specimen Stability | Ambient: 2 Hours Refrigerated: 5 Days CSF is also stable at 33-37 degrees C for 5 days. |
| Rejection Criteria | Frozen, Pooled specimen, Preservatives used, Specimen older than stability limits, Syringe with needle attached Note: Specimens with rejection concerns that cannot be recollected (e.g. surgical tissue) will be processed upon receipt and the ordering physician consulted. |
| Avail. Stat | NO |
| Analytic Time | Up to 8 Weeks Smear result available within 24 hours. Positives are reported as soon as detected. Additional time is required for ID/susceptibility if culture is positive. |
| Methodology | Growth detection by CO2 production of acid-fast organism & microscopic examination of Fluorescent/carbol Fuchsin stained smear |
Reference range(s)
The reference ranges listed below are valid on this date of April 25, 2024.
| Component | Age | Male Norm | Male Critical Low | Male Critical High | Female Norm | Female Critical High | Female Critical Low | Units | Add'l info |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Site: | ALL | See report. | |||||||
| Acid Fast Smear: | ALL | See report. | |||||||
| AFB Culture Status: | ALL | See report. | |||||||
| AFB Culture: | ALL | See report. |