Comparison of visual 24-hour and spectrophotometric 48-hour MICs to CLSI reference microdilution MICs of fluconazole, itraconazole, posaconazole, and voriconazole for Candida spp. A collaborative study

A multicenter (six-center) study evaluated the performance (interlaboratory reproducibility, compatibility with reference methods, and categorical agreement) of 24-h visual and 48-h spectrophotometric MICs. MICs of fluconazole, itraconazole, voriconazole, and posaconazole were compared to reference 48-h microdilution broth visual MICs (CLSI [Formerly NCCLS] M27-A2 document) for 71 isolates of Candida spp. that included 10 fluconazole-resistant strains. Twenty readings (5%) were reported as showing no growth at 24 h, mostly for Candida dubliniensis and from a single center. The overall interlaboratory agreement of 24-h visual readings and 48-h spectrophotometric MICs, as well their compatibility with reference values, were excellent with the four triazoles for most of the species (93 to 99%, within 3 dilutions). The categorical agreement between the investigational reading conditions and reference values was good with fluconazole and voriconazole (93 to 97%) but lower with itraconazole (86 to 88%), due primarily to minor errors. There were only 0 to 3% very major errors with these three triazoles; the number of substantial errors (more than three dilutions) was also low (<2%) with posaconazole. These data suggest that the performance of both investigational MIC readings gives results similar to those of reference MICs. Since spectrophotometric MICs are more objective and the 24-h time period would shorten the MIC determination of azoles, the description of either of these two reading conditions in the M27-A2 document should be considered by the CLSI subcommittee in addition to or instead of the longer, less practical, and more subjective 48-h visual MIC reading.