Background : As tuberculous and nontuberculous mycobacterial infections are increasing, it is very important to differentiate the myobacterial species. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method has been proven to be a useful technique for the identification of mycobacteria. The purpose of this study was to investigate the identification rate using HPLC and to know nontuberculous mycobacterial distribution in Ulsan University Hospital.

Method : Mycobacteria grew in 959 clinical specimens, which were analyzed by HPLC, and their distribution was reviewed by retrospective studies.

Results : The patterns of HPLC were divided into single, double, and triple cluster groups which consist of 9, 20, and 4 species of mycobacteria respectively. The identification rate of mycobacteria by HPLC was 98.9%, And the rate of nontuberculous mycobacteria in mycobacterial culture positive specimens was 12.2%.

Conclusion : HPLC is an excellent tool for mycobacterial identification. And the culture rate of nontuberculous mycobacteria in clinical specimens is increasing in Korea. (Korean J Clin Microbiol 2004;7(2):148-155)