Controlled clinical evaluation of BACTEC Plus Aerobic/F and BacT/Alert Aerobic FAN bottles for detection of bloodstream infections

A total of 7,190 blood culture sets were obtained from adult patients with a suspected bloodstream infection. A 20-ml sample of blood was distributed equally between the aerobic FAN bottle which was monitored in the BacT/Alert system and a Plus Aerobic/F bottle which was monitored in the BACTEC 9240 system. A total of 988 positive cultures were obtained from 483 patients; however, only 453 positive cultures from 173 patients met the criteria for volume ( > or = ml per bottle) and clinical significance on the basis of concurrent case review required for data analysis. There were 25 and 68 false positives from the FAN and Plus Aerobic/F bottles, respectively. There were no statistically significant differences between systems in the number of positive cultures or septic episodes by species; however, the total number of Enterobacteriaceae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates combined was significantly greater in the FAN bottle (P = 0.04). Detection times did not differ significantly between systems for positive cultures; however, episodes of Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia were detected significantly more rapidly from the FAN bottle (P = 0.005). There was no significant difference between systems in the detection of bloodstream infections in patients receiving antibiotics at the time of blood culture.