In vitro versus in vivo culture sensitivities: an unchecked assumption?

No abstract available. Article truncated at 150 words. Case Presentation A patient presents to urgent care with the symptoms of a urinary tract infection (UTI). The urinalysis is consistent with infection, and the urine culture is sent to lab. In the interim, a physician prescribes empiric treatment, and sends the patient home. Two days later, the culture is positive for E. coli, resistant to the drug prescribed (Ciprofloxacin, Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) 64 μg/ml), but attempts to contact the patient (by telephone) are not successful. The patient returns the call two weeks later to say that the infection resolved without sequelae.Discussion Many clinicians have the experience of treatment success in the setting of known antibiotic resistance, and, conversely, treatment failure in the setting of known sensitivity. Such anomalies and empiric research described here forces us to revisit assumptions about the relationship between in vivo and in vitro drug responses. When it comes to the utility of microbiology…