Evaluation of the quality of the sputum specimen sent to the laboratory for bacterial culture is best performed by:

Question

a. measuring the amount of mucus found.
b. checking for mucus or blood.
c. microscopically examining the Gram-stained smear for leukocytes.
d. microscopically examining the Gram-stained smear for squamous epi-thelial cells.

Answer 1

D
The respiratory secretions sent to the laboratory for bacterial culture should be microscopically examined via Gram-stained smear. One of the most important uses of the Gram stain is to eva-luate the quality of expectorated sputum received for routine bacteriologic culture. An acceptable specimen yields less than 10 squamous epithelial cells per low-power field (100´).