Continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis: microbiological diagnosis in peritonitis.

Dialysate samples from 29 Continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Patients (CAPD)-patients were taken in periods with and without peritonitis and cultured simultaneously in the Hemobact system and on conventional plate media, using a standard technique. Bacteria were demonstrated in 23 (92%) of 25 CAPD-patients with peritonitis by the Hemobact method and only in 6 (24%) by the standard technique. Sixty-four (100%) of the 64 samples taken during periods without peritonitis were negative by the standard technique. Sixty-two (97%) of the 64 samples were negative in the Hemobact system. In the remaining two samples coagulase negative staphylococci were demonstrated on the third day in only one of the bottles. In conclusion, blood cultivation systems should be preferred to conventional standard methods for adequate microbiological diagnosis in CAPD-patients with peritonitis.