Navigating Through Laboratory Reports: Expectations, Dreams, and Realities

Abstract

Close cooperation between the clinician and the laboratory is essential for high quality management of tuberculosis patients. Barriers in communications are related to either a lack of appreciation of the physician's needs by the laboratory, or insufficient understanding of the procedures specific for the mycobacteriology laboratory by the physician. This chapter addresses the clinician's perspective on the one hand and information about the tests currently available in mycobacteriology laboratories on the other. The description of the procedures is limited to the issues important for the choices the physician has to make when ordering the test. The preference for centralized laboratory services when the raw specimens are submitted directly to the large mycobacteriology laboratories that have adequate expertise and are properly equipped is emphasized. Only such specialized laboratories can provide the best possible turnaround time and the most reliable results for the necessary variety of tests.

Key Words:

Mycobacteria - M. tuberculosis - Tubercle baccli - acid-fast bacilli - susceptibility - drug resistance