1. < MAC & Bronchiectasis

How long does it take for MAC to be diagnosed

Posted by mcdc1959 @mcdc1959, Feb 29 8:57am

I am waiting for my MAC results it has been a month and no word from my doctor. What is the soonest and latest for results to come in?

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Mentor
Sue, Volunteer Mentor | @sueinmn | Feb 29 9:07am

@mcdc1959 Sputum culture results can take a very long time! And waiting is hard. The good news is, if you had Pseudomonas, they would have known by now - that shows up in 2-3 weeks. MAC takes longer - first, a quick check is done to determine if there are acid-fast bacteria, then it is set up for a culture - usually sent to a specialized lab. There it is allowed to grow for 4-7 weeks. If bacteria are present, they then test to see which drug(s) it will respond to, which takes another week. Finally the results are reported to your doctor. Some labs post interim reports on their physician portal, which the doc or staff can access.
I have waited as little as 4 weeks for results, and as long as 8.
If you are anxious, you could call after 6 weeks to see if there are any preliminary results. Do you know where your cultures were sent?
Sue

REPLY
4 replies
mcdc1959 | @mcdc1959 | Feb 29 9:26am
In reply to @sueinmn "@mcdc1959 Sputum culture results can take a very long time! And waiting is hard. The good..." + (show)
@sueinmn

@mcdc1959 Sputum culture results can take a very long time! And waiting is hard. The good news is, if you had Pseudomonas, they would have known by now - that shows up in 2-3 weeks. MAC takes longer - first, a quick check is done to determine if there are acid-fast bacteria, then it is set up for a culture - usually sent to a specialized lab. There it is allowed to grow for 4-7 weeks. If bacteria are present, they then test to see which drug(s) it will respond to, which takes another week. Finally the results are reported to your doctor. Some labs post interim reports on their physician portal, which the doc or staff can access.
I have waited as little as 4 weeks for results, and as long as 8.
If you are anxious, you could call after 6 weeks to see if there are any preliminary results. Do you know where your cultures were sent?
Sue

Jump to this post

I can’t find that info, but I thought it might have been in South Carolina.

REPLY
blm1007blm1007 | @blm1007blm1007 | Mar 1 10:06am
In reply to @sueinmn "@mcdc1959 Sputum culture results can take a very long time! And waiting is hard. The good..." + (show)
@sueinmn

@mcdc1959 Sputum culture results can take a very long time! And waiting is hard. The good news is, if you had Pseudomonas, they would have known by now - that shows up in 2-3 weeks. MAC takes longer - first, a quick check is done to determine if there are acid-fast bacteria, then it is set up for a culture - usually sent to a specialized lab. There it is allowed to grow for 4-7 weeks. If bacteria are present, they then test to see which drug(s) it will respond to, which takes another week. Finally the results are reported to your doctor. Some labs post interim reports on their physician portal, which the doc or staff can access.
I have waited as little as 4 weeks for results, and as long as 8.
If you are anxious, you could call after 6 weeks to see if there are any preliminary results. Do you know where your cultures were sent?
Sue

Jump to this post

It's that woman from OKC again Sue.
Since we are talking about sputum cultures I have a question for your thoughts.
When I have given sputum cultures at NJH I was unable to give anything other than a speciment vile of three layers. Top white foamy bubbly, middle clear looking, bottom somewhat clear that appeared to have white specs and maybe a spec of yellow green. I just sent the same type of specimen culture to UT Tyler since that is where I will be going from hereon due to it being closer to OKC.
Question/Your Thoughts: If there is no yellow/green or deeply colored sputum do you think they can truly test for all types of infections/bacteria????

REPLY
2 replies
annagh | @annagh | Mar 1 12:00pm

Yes, the waiting is hard. Although I sent regular sputum cultures while on the Clofazamine trial—July 23-January 24—neither the doctor nor I got to see the results. I'm now in the 8th week of waiting for the post-trial culture and very eager to see results. My original sputum culture didn't show Avium until the very end of the 8 week culture. In fact the doctor had told me, time was up and no Avium, but called a couple days later with the bad news. I'm hoping there is more information about than simply positive or negative.
Anna

REPLY
Mentor
Sue, Volunteer Mentor | @sueinmn | Mar 1 12:56pm
In reply to @blm1007blm1007 "It's that woman from OKC again Sue. Since we are talking about sputum cultures I have..." + (show)
@blm1007blm1007

It's that woman from OKC again Sue.
Since we are talking about sputum cultures I have a question for your thoughts.
When I have given sputum cultures at NJH I was unable to give anything other than a speciment vile of three layers. Top white foamy bubbly, middle clear looking, bottom somewhat clear that appeared to have white specs and maybe a spec of yellow green. I just sent the same type of specimen culture to UT Tyler since that is where I will be going from hereon due to it being closer to OKC.
Question/Your Thoughts: If there is no yellow/green or deeply colored sputum do you think they can truly test for all types of infections/bacteria????

Jump to this post

If there is actual sputum in the culture, and not just saliva, it really doesn't matter what it looks like. After six months of medication, my cultures were completely transparent in color, but still positive for MAC.
I don't know what the culture results would be now, after 4 years of saline. My doc says as long as my sputum stays clear and I am completely asymptomatic we will not do another culture. I'm not sure other docs would agree, but she has been helpful to me in getting my asthma under control (that was a 20+ year struggle) and doesn't hesitate to return my calls and discuss any concerns.
Sue

REPLY
1 reply
mamiebarker | @mamiebarker | Mar 1 1:32pm
In reply to @blm1007blm1007 "It's that woman from OKC again Sue. Since we are talking about sputum cultures I have..." + (show)
@blm1007blm1007

It's that woman from OKC again Sue.
Since we are talking about sputum cultures I have a question for your thoughts.
When I have given sputum cultures at NJH I was unable to give anything other than a speciment vile of three layers. Top white foamy bubbly, middle clear looking, bottom somewhat clear that appeared to have white specs and maybe a spec of yellow green. I just sent the same type of specimen culture to UT Tyler since that is where I will be going from hereon due to it being closer to OKC.
Question/Your Thoughts: If there is no yellow/green or deeply colored sputum do you think they can truly test for all types of infections/bacteria????

Jump to this post

My sputum sample was so small I was afraid that there would not be enough to culture. But they were able to use it to test for everything. I have gotten the results on everything but MAC... I am told that it takes a bit longer to culture.

I am about 8 weeks in

REPLY
2 replies
blm1007blm1007 | @blm1007blm1007 | Mar 1 5:14pm
In reply to @sueinmn "If there is actual sputum in the culture, and not just saliva, it really doesn't matter..." + (show)
@sueinmn

If there is actual sputum in the culture, and not just saliva, it really doesn't matter what it looks like. After six months of medication, my cultures were completely transparent in color, but still positive for MAC.
I don't know what the culture results would be now, after 4 years of saline. My doc says as long as my sputum stays clear and I am completely asymptomatic we will not do another culture. I'm not sure other docs would agree, but she has been helpful to me in getting my asthma under control (that was a 20+ year struggle) and doesn't hesitate to return my calls and discuss any concerns.
Sue

Jump to this post

Lucky you, happy for you Sue......a good doctor. They are hard to find, especially with many of the experienced doctors retiring. Fingers crossed mine was a good culture and no infection/bad bacteria.

REPLY
blm1007blm1007 | @blm1007blm1007 | Mar 1 5:17pm
In reply to @mamiebarker "My sputum sample was so small I was afraid that there would not be enough to..." + (show)
@mamiebarker

My sputum sample was so small I was afraid that there would not be enough to culture. But they were able to use it to test for everything. I have gotten the results on everything but MAC... I am told that it takes a bit longer to culture.

I am about 8 weeks in

Jump to this post

Thank you.
Doing the waiting game now with fingers crossed for good news.
Hope we both do not have to hear the words 'MAC found'.

REPLY
mcdc1959 | @mcdc1959 | Mar 2 8:48am
In reply to @sueinmn "@mcdc1959 Sputum culture results can take a very long time! And waiting is hard. The good..." + (show)
@sueinmn

@mcdc1959 Sputum culture results can take a very long time! And waiting is hard. The good news is, if you had Pseudomonas, they would have known by now - that shows up in 2-3 weeks. MAC takes longer - first, a quick check is done to determine if there are acid-fast bacteria, then it is set up for a culture - usually sent to a specialized lab. There it is allowed to grow for 4-7 weeks. If bacteria are present, they then test to see which drug(s) it will respond to, which takes another week. Finally the results are reported to your doctor. Some labs post interim reports on their physician portal, which the doc or staff can access.
I have waited as little as 4 weeks for results, and as long as 8.
If you are anxious, you could call after 6 weeks to see if there are any preliminary results. Do you know where your cultures were sent?
Sue

Jump to this post

The wait is hard, but at least I stopped coughing like crazy after the bronchoscopy! Ty for information.

REPLY
pacathy | @pacathy | Mar 2 5:33pm
In reply to @mamiebarker "My sputum sample was so small I was afraid that there would not be enough to..." + (show)
@mamiebarker

My sputum sample was so small I was afraid that there would not be enough to culture. But they were able to use it to test for everything. I have gotten the results on everything but MAC... I am told that it takes a bit longer to culture.

I am about 8 weeks in

Jump to this post

At 8 weeks, I would call and ask about results. I’ve used 3 labs and two of them got results out in the dot of 6 weeks. I had some other organisms on third and got those results at different times with the negative MAC results coming about 6.5 weeks. (I have bronchiectasis but not MAC.)

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