Comparison of a blood culture system containing liquoid and sucrose with systems containing either reagent alone.

By utilizing parallel culture methods on multiple blood specimens, three blood culture systems were evaluated for their ability to allow rapid recovery of organisms. The same base medium was used for all three systems. System or flask 1 contained base medium with Liquoid added, flask 2 contained base medium with sucrose added, and flask 3 contained both Liquoid and sucrose. During the study period, there were 259 patients considered to have positive blood cultures. Organism recovery was accomplished from flask 1 in 214 of these patients, from flask 2 in 180 cases, and from flask 3 in 257 instances. The use of anticoagulants and osmotic stabilizers in blood culture systems is discussed in detail.