Comparison of Sample Preparation Methods for Detection of Legionella pneumophila in Culture-Positive Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluids by PCR

A prospective study was conducted on 25 Legionella pneumophila culture-positive and 98 culture-negative bronchoalveolar lavage fluid samples to compare two DNA preparation methods: a rapid modified Chelex-based protocol and a proteinase K method. PCR was found to be more sensitive with the Chelex-based method (P = 0.03). No difference was found concerning the inhibition rate.