Lysis centrifugation and slide blood culture systems for diagnosis of bacteremia in immunocompromised patients.

Compared with a slide blood culture system, a lysis centrifugation system detected significantly more positive blood cultures and more episodes of bacteremia in immunocompromised patients (even when on antibiotics), while giving results more rapidly and even at significantly lower CFUs. However, it had a high contamination rate and did not detect Pseudomonas aeruginosa as often. Use of the two systems together is recommended for diagnosing bacteremia early in immunocompromised patients.