Comparison of a slide blood culture system with a supplemented peptone broth culture method.

A slide blood culture system (Roche Diagnostics, Div. Hoffman-La Roche, Inc., Montreal, Canada; Roche BCB) was compared with a supplemented peptone broth Vacutainer method (Becton, Dickinson & Co., Rutherford, N.J.) on blood samples taken from the same 1,209 patients. Significantly more clinically important isolates were isolates with the Roche BCB system, and technical processing time was reduced. However, significantly more contaminants were isolated with the Roche BCB system, and it could not readily be adapted for anaerobic culture. Contamination was reduced by careful tightening of the slide to the bottle top to prevent any leakage. Overall, the BCB system is a satisfactory method for aerobic blood culture, markedly reducing technical processing time relative to most other blood culture methods.