MULTICENTER COMPARISON OF A COLORIMETRIC MICRODILUTION BROTH METHOD WITH THE REFERENCE MACRODILUTION METHOD FOR IN-VITRO SUSCEPTIBILITY TESTING OF YEAST ISOLATES

This multicenter study was performed to compare a colorimetric microdilution method with the NCCLS M27-P reference macrodilution method for the testing of yeast isolates against amphotericin B, fluconazole, and 5-fluorocytosine (5FC). Testing was performed on ten yeast isolates in five independent laboratories. All sites tested each isolate a total of 20 times with both methods. MICs were read after 48 h incubation. The macrodilution MIC reference range was defined as the modal MIC +/- 1-log(2) dilution for each organism-antifungal agent combination. Agreement between the M27-P reference range results and the microdilution MICs was 86% with amphotericin B, 90% with fluconazole, and 93% with 5FC. Based on these data, it is apparent that new approaches, such as the colorimetric microdilution method, will provide MIC values comparable to the M27-P macrodilution method in a format that is more practical for use in a busy clinical laboratory.