Diagnosis of gonorrhea by culture

Abstract

An important aid in the diagnosis of gonorrhea in old and atypical cases is the culture method. Observations in recent years show that the best medium for this purpose is McLeod's chocolate agar placed in an atmosphere of 8% carbon dioxide. Using this method, Carpenter and his associates examined 245 women. They also took swabs from them. Of the 223 laboratory tests that were positive, the culture method detected gonococcus in 205 cases, or 91.9%, and the swab method in 107 cases, or 48%. In 18 cases, the smear was positive but the culture was negative, so the combination of the two methods greatly increases the chances of detecting gonococcus.