Ordering Recommendation

Identify mycobacterial isolates, including requests for speciation within the M. tuberculosis complex.

New York DOH Approval Status

This test is New York state approved.

Specimen Required

Patient Preparation
Collect

Actively growing organism, in pure culture.

Specimen Preparation

Place each specimen in an individually sealed bag. Transport sealed container with pure culture on solid or in liquid media.

Storage/Transport Temperature

Room temperature. If culture is suspected of being a microorganism identified on the IATA list as an infectious substance affecting humans, submit specimen according to Infectious Substance, Category A, shipping guidelines.

Unacceptable Conditions

Mixed cultures or non-viable organisms. Organisms submitted on an agar plate.

Remarks

Indicate source of organism and any other pertinent information, such as the growth rate of the organism.

Stability

Ambient: 2 weeks; Refrigerated: 2 weeks; Frozen: 2 weeks

Methodology

Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization-Time of Flight (MALDI-TOF) Mass Spectrometry/Polymerase Chain Reaction/Sequencing

Performed

Sun-Sat

Reported

Varies
Depends on organism growth.

Reference Interval

Complete identification of clinically significant isolates.

Interpretive Data

For identification by DNA sequencing and MALDI-TOF:

Compliance Category

Laboratory Developed Test (LDT)

Note

If the isolate M. tuberculosis complex is to be speciated, enter this information in the comment field and ship Category A.
A processing fee will be billed for all organisms submitted that are not in pure culture, as indicated in specimen requirements.
Identification of AFB isolates is billed by individual tests performed.

Hotline History

N/A

CPT Codes

CPT codes for identification vary based on method.

Components

Component Test Code* Component Chart Name LOINC
0060999 AFB Identification 543-9
* Component test codes cannot be used to order tests. The information provided here is not sufficient for interface builds; for a complete test mix, please click the sidebar link to access the Interface Map.

Aliases

  • AFB identification by sequencing, 16S rRNA
  • AFBSEQ
  • M. tuberculosis identification
  • MTBGP
  • Mycobacterium tuberculosis Probe
Acid-Fast Bacillus (AFB) Identification