[On the performance evaluation of VersaTREK introduced in blood culture].

ABSTRACT

We evaluated performance of Versa TREK, blood culture system used in our hospital. Compared with BacT/ALERT 3D, the detection time of bacteria in the VersaTREK was shorter in most of strains. Compared with BacT/ALERT Virtuo, there was little difference in the detection time of bacteria. In addition, VersaTREK was able to detect Helicobacter cinaedi which could not be detected by other equipment, and H. cinaedi was detected in clinical specimens within 2 days. There were 147 bottles judged to be false positives at our facility, of which 7,290 were 2,0% of the total. Ninety one points eight percentage of the cause was due to the change in the temperature inside the device, 3.4% was due to incorrect procedure. So, it is considered that false positives are further decreased by appropriate management of the installation and sample collection.