THE DETECTION OF SIGNIFICANT BACTERIURIA: AN ASSESSMENT OF THE TRIPHENYLTETRAZOLIUM CHLORIDE REDUCTION TEST.

The degree to which quantitative urine cultures and the triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC) reduction test can be correlated can be directly related to the species of organism involved, the actual level of bacterial population in the urine and the presence of antibiotics. The influence of these various factors is discussed and it is concluded that, depending upon the group of patients involved, the TTC test will detect 70-90% of cases of significant bacteriuria. The TTC test would appear to be a useful screening procedure in the surveillance of large outpatient populations and in the detection of bacteriuria during pregnancy, considering the difficulty of applying the technique of complete quantitative culture to these groups.