Comparison of Du Pont Isolator and Roche Septi-Chek for detection of fungemia.

The rapid detection of fungemia in hospitalized patients is imperative, particularly for those who are immunocompromised. Our laboratory compared the Roche Septi-Chek with the Du Pont Isolator for the recovery of fungi from blood. Of 23,586 matched pairs of blood cultures, 199 were positive. The Isolator detected 178 (89.4%) and the Septi-Chek detected 119 (59.7%) of all positive isolates. The mean recovery time for the Isolator and Septi-Chek was 2.2 and 4.9 days, respectively. The Isolator detected fungemia earlier than the Septi-Chek did and was the only culture system positive in 83% of 53 patients, whereas the Septi-Chek system yielded the same results in only 13% of the patients. The Isolator provides a more rapid and sensitive method for the recovery of fungi from blood.