Laboratory diagnosis of bacteremia by headspace gas-liquid chromatography.

The growth of Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pneumoniae, S. fecalis, S. sanguis, S. bovis, S. mitior, S. agalactiae, Escherichia coli, A-D group, Klebsiella aerogenes, K. oxytoca, Enterobacter cloacae, Proteus mirabilis, Serratia marcescens, Pasteurella multocida or Listeria monocytogenes in 83 blood cultures was detected in a 1.5-min analysis using head-space gas-liquid chromatography. Two hundred and twenty-four blood cultures in which there was no growth of micro-organisms were negative in the analysis. The analysis detected the growth of S. epidermidis in only 6 of 26 blood cultures and failed to detect the growth of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Candida albicans and species of Micrococcus, Corynebacterium or Bacillus in 18 blood cultures.