EVALUATION OFCORD FORMATION IN KINYOUN-STAINED SMEARS OF MGIT CULTURES AS A RAPID IDENTIFICATION METHOD FOR MYCOBACTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS COMPLEX JUN-REN SUN 1 , SHAN-SHAN HSIEH 1 , SHIH-YI LEE 1,4 and JANG-JIH LU 1,2,3,5 1 Division of Clinical Pathology Department of Pathology Tri-Service General Hospital Taipei, Taiwan 2 Department of Laboratory Medicine China Medical University Hospital Taichung, Taiwan 3 Institute of Clinical Medical Science China Medical University Taichung, Taiwan 4 Departments of Microbiology and Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Taipei Veterans General Hospital Taipei, Taiwan Accepted for Publication October 21, 2008 ABSTRACT Tuberculosis (TB) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. One hundred and nineteen acid-fast bacilli-positive smears for Mycobacte- rium Growth Indicator Tube cultures from 119 patients were examined by microscopy for the presence of cord formation. The results were compared with those of the traditional TB identification method, IS6110 polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and the Capilia TB assay which uses a monoclonal antibody to identify. With the traditional TB identification method, 57 of these 119 specimens were determined to be positive for Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex, and the organisms in the remaining 62 specimens were identified as non-tuberculosis mycobacteria (NTM). Both IS6110 PCR and the Capilia TB assay yielded results identical to those of the traditional method with 57 true TB and 62 NTM. For the cord formation assay, all 62 NTM cultures were 5 Corresponding author. Dr. Lu JJ, Department of Laboratory Medicine, China Medical University Hospital, No.2,Yuh-Der Road, Taichung 40447, Taiwan, R.O.C. TEL: +886-4-2206-2121 # 1202; FAX: +886-4-2203-1029; EMAIL: janglu45@gmail.com Journal of Rapid Methods & Automation in Microbiology 17 (2009) 339–349. All Rights Reserved. © 2009, The Author(s) Journal compilation © 2009, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. 339