Martín, AnaHerranz, MartaMartínez Lirola, MiguelFernández Fernández, RosaBouza, EmilioGarcía de Viedma, Darío2012-09-052012-09-052008-02-14Martín A, Herranz M, Martínez Lirola M, Fernández Fernández R, Bouza E, García de Viedma D. Optimized molecular resolution of cross-contamination alerts in clinical mycobacteriology laboratories. BMC Microbiol.; 8:301471-2180http://hdl.handle.net/10668/467INDAL-TB group: MI Sánchez, MC Rogado, T Cabezas, W SánchezYebra, J Martínez, MA Lucerna, P Barroso, I Cabeza- Barrera, LF Díez, M Rodríguez, M Escámez, P Marín, A Lazo, J Gamir, J Vázquez, C Gutiérrez, A Reyes and T Peñafiel. Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't;BACKGROUND. The phenomenon of misdiagnosing tuberculosis (TB) by laboratory cross-contamination when culturing Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) has been widely reported and it has an obvious clinical, therapeutic and social impact. The final confirmation of a cross-contamination event requires the molecular identification of the same MTB strain cultured from both the potential source of the contamination and from the false-positive candidate. The molecular tool usually applied in this context is IS6110-RFLP which takes a long time to provide an answer, usually longer than is acceptable for microbiologists and clinicians to make decisions. Our purpose in this study is to evaluate a novel PCR-based method, MIRU-VNTR as an alternative to assure a rapid and optimized analysis of cross-contamination alerts. RESULTS. MIRU-VNTR was prospectively compared with IS6110-RFLP for clarifying 19 alerts of false positivity from other laboratories. MIRU-VNTR highly correlated with IS6110-RFLP, reduced the response time by 27 days and clarified six alerts unresolved by RFLP. Additionally, MIRU-VNTR revealed complex situations such as contamination events involving polyclonal isolates and a false-positive case due to the simultaneous cross-contamination from two independent sources. CONCLUSION. Unlike standard RFLP-based genotyping, MIRU-VNTR i) could help reduce the impact of a false positive diagnosis of TB, ii) increased the number of events that could be solved and iii) revealed the complexity of some cross-contamination events that could not be dissected by IS6110-RFLP.enTuberculosisErrores DiagnósticosEstudios ProspectivosReacciones Falso PositivasMedical Subject Headings::Analytical, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Techniques and Equipment::Diagnosis::Diagnostic Errors::False Positive ReactionsMedical Subject Headings::Organisms::Eukaryota::Animals::Chordata::Vertebrates::Mammals::Primates::Haplorhini::Catarrhini::Hominidae::HumansMedical Subject Headings::Phenomena and Processes::Chemical Phenomena::Biochemical Phenomena::Molecular Structure::Base Sequence::Repetitive Sequences, Nucleic Acid::Interspersed Repetitive SequencesMedical Subject Headings::Phenomena and Processes::Chemical Phenomena::Biochemical Phenomena::Molecular Structure::Base Sequence::Repetitive Sequences, Nucleic Acid::Tandem Repeat Sequences::Minisatellite RepeatsMedical Subject Headings::Organisms::Bacteria::Gram-Positive Bacteria::Actinobacteria::Actinomycetales::Mycobacteriaceae::Mycobacterium::Mycobacterium tuberculosisMedical Subject Headings::Analytical, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Techniques and Equipment::Investigative Techniques::Genetic Techniques::Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques::Polymerase Chain ReactionMedical Subject Headings::Phenomena and Processes::Genetic Phenomena::Genetic Variation::Polymorphism, Genetic::Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment LengthMedical Subject Headings::Analytical, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Techniques and Equipment::Investigative Techniques::Epidemiologic Methods::Epidemiologic Study Characteristics as Topic::Epidemiologic Studies::Cohort Studies::Longitudinal Studies::Prospective StudiesMedical Subject Headings::Analytical, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Techniques and Equipment::Investigative Techniques::Clinical Laboratory Techniques::Specimen HandlingMedical Subject Headings::Diseases::Bacterial Infections and Mycoses::Bacterial Infections::Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections::Actinomycetales Infections::Mycobacterium Infections::TuberculosisMedical Subject Headings::Analytical, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Techniques and Equipment::Diagnosis::Diagnostic Errorsresearch article18275600open access10.1186/1471-2180-8-30PMC2291055