The adaptation of fluorescence microscopy for Nocardia asteroides: a preliminary report.

The Fluorescence Microscope is extremely effective in revealing the presence and morphology of Nocardia asteroides. This has been effectively demonstrated when the Auramine Fluorochrome was decolourized with 1% H2SO4 and the interval of decolourization was limited to two minutes and thirty seconds. When Nocardia asteroids was seeded in sputum found to be negative for acid-fast organisms and in greatly diluted quantities after one hour intervals, its presence was still revealed with the Flourescence Microscope. The normally employed Kinyoun technique of acid-fastness was seen to be less effective under the same conditions.