Proportions of positive graded direct smears confirmed by cultured specimen decontaminated at 10 (A), 15 (B) and 20 (C) min obtained from 150 matched samples
| Direct smear (DS) | Grade | Frequency | MGIT cultured specimen (Gold standards) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | B | C | ||||||
| n | Per cent | n | Per cent | n | Per cent | |||
| ZN | Scanty | 21 | 14 | 66.7 | 9 | 42.1 | 11 | 52.4 |
| +1 | 13 | 12 | 92.3 | 11 | 84.6 | 10 | 76.9 | |
| +2 | 5 | 5 | 100.0 | 4 | 80.0 | 5 | 100.0 | |
| +3 | 5 | 5 | 100.0 | 5 | 100.0 | 5 | 100.0 | |
| FM | Scanty | 3 | 0 | 0.0 | 1 | 33.3 | 1 | 33.3 |
| +1 | 34 | 24 | 70.6 | 19 | 55.9 | 17 | 50.0 | |
| +2 | 18 | 16 | 88.9 | 12 | 66.7 | 13 | 72.2 | |
| +3 | 5 | 4 | 80.0 | 4 | 80.0 | 4 | 80.0 | |
| CY | Scanty | 8 | 6 | 75.0 | 4 | 50.0 | 3 | 37.5 |
| +1 | 30 | 22 | 73.3 | 18 | 60.0 | 19 | 63.3 | |
| +2 | 5 | 5 | 100.0 | 5 | 100.0 | 5 | 100.0 | |
| +3 | 6 | 6 | 100.0 | 6 | 100.0 | 6 | 100.0 | |
| PiLED | Scanty | 12 | 5 | 41.7 | 7 | 58.3 | 5 | 41.7 |
| +1 | 36 | 22 | 61.1 | 20 | 55.6 | 18 | 50.0 | |
| +2 | 13 | 13 | 100.0 | 10 | 76.9 | 13 | 100.0 | |
| +3 | 3 | 3 | 100.0 | 2 | 66.7 | 3 | 100.0 | |
CY, fluorescence microscopy with CysCope light emitting diode microscope; FM, fluorescence microscopy with mercury vapour lamp microscope; MGIT, PiLED, Fluorescence microscopy with Primo Star iLED light emitting diode microscope; ZN, Ziehl-Neelsen microscopy using the conventional light microscope.