page_title: Tuberculosis diagnosis
section_title: Microbiological studies
hierarchical_section_title: Tuberculosis diagnosis / Microbiological studies
caption_attribution_description: English: This is a close-up of a Mycobacterium tuberculosis culture revealing this organism’s colonial morphology. Note the colorless rough surface, which are typical morphologic characteristics seen in Mycobacterium tuberculosis colonial growth. Macroscopic examination of colonial growth patterns is still one of the ways microorganisms are often identified. Español: Acercamiento de un cultivo de Mycobacterium tuberculosis mostrando la morfología colonial del microorganismo Nótese la falta de color en la superficie, característica morfológica típica observada en el crecimiento de Mycobacterium tuberculosis. La identificación macroscópica con base en la morfología colonial continua como una de las maneras más frecuentes para identificarlo Deutsch: Dies ist eine Nahaufnahme einer Mycobacterium tuberculosis-Kultur, welche die Kolonienmorphologie des Organismus' aufzeigt. Besonders zu beachten ist die farblose, rauhe Oberfläche, welche eines typisches morphologisches Charakteristikum im Wachstum von Mycobacterium tuberculosis-Kolonien darstellt. Die makroskopische Examination des Wachstumsmusters der Kolonien ist immer noch einer von vielen Wegen, wie diese Mikroorganismen identifiziert werden können. Français&#160;: Culture de Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Polski: Charakterystyczny, śluzowy wygląd kolonii. Português: Colônias de M. tuberculosis podem ser vistas nitidamente nesta cultura. 中文: 結核桿菌在體外培養基上形成的菌落. Suomi: Mycobacterium tuberculosis -viljelmä. Galego: Grupos de Mycobacterium tuberculosis poden ser vistos nitidamente neste cultivo. Bahasa Melayu: Gambar besar kultur Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Euskara: Mycobacterium tuberculosis-en koloniak, kultibo medio batean hazita. Aymar aru: Tisiku jisk'a laq'u. Magyar: Mycobacterium tuberculosis baktériumtenyészet
context_page_description: Tuberculosis is diagnosed by finding Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteria in a clinical specimen taken from the patient. While other investigations may strongly suggest tuberculosis as the diagnosis, they cannot confirm it.
  A complete medical evaluation for tuberculosis must include a medical history, a physical examination, a chest X-ray and microbiological examination. It may also include a tuberculin skin test, other scans and X-rays, surgical biopsy.
context_section_description: A definitive diagnosis of tuberculosis can only be made by culturing Mycobacterium tuberculosis organisms from a specimen taken from the patient (most often sputum, but may also include pus, CSF, biopsied tissue, etc.).  A diagnosis made other than by culture may only be classified as "probable" or "presumed".  For a diagnosis negating the possibility of tuberculosis infection, most protocols require that two separate cultures both test negative.
caption: Distinctive clusters of colorless Mycobacterium tuberculosis form in this culture.
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