Bacterial Culture, Throat




Test Mnemonic

THRCUL

Primary CPT Codes

  • 87070 - QTY (1), Culture, Bacterial, Aerobic

Variable CPT Codes (dependent on findings)

  • 87077 - QTY (1), Identification, Aerobic Isolate
  • 87181 - QTY (1), Susceptibility, Agar Dilution, per agent
  • 87184 - QTY (1), Susceptibility, Disk Method, per plate
  • 87185 - QTY (1), Susceptibility, Enzyme Detection, per enzyme
  • 87186 - QTY (1), Susceptibility, Multi-antimicrobial
  • 87186 - QTY (1), Susceptibility, Multi-antimicrobial Phoenix
  • 87186 - QTY (1), Susceptibility, Multi-antimicrobial Sensititre
  • 87186 - QTY (1), Susceptibility, Multi-antimicrobial Vitek
  • 87182 - QTY (1), Susceptibility, Carbapenamase Enzyme detection, per isolate

LOINC ®

626-2

Aliases

  • Culture, Throat

Performing Laboratory

Cleveland Clinic Laboratories


Specimen Requirements

Volume Type Container Collect Temperature Transport Temperature Special Instructions
1 E SwabAmbientAmbient 

Alternate Specimen Requirements

Volume Type Container Collect Temperature Transport Temperature Special Instructions
1 Swab in Amies or Stuart's media without charcoalAmbientAmbient 

Stability

Environmental Condition Description
Ambient48 hours
Refrigerated48 hours
FrozenUnacceptable

Days Performed

Sun - Sat

Turnaround Time

4 days

Methodology

Name Description
Culture 

Special Info

Use swab to sample inflamed areas and exudate from the posterior pharynx. Place swab in transport medium. Routine throat cultures will be processed only for growth of Streptococcus pyogenes (Group A streptococcus). If culture is positive, identification will be performed on clinically significant organisms at an additional charge. Identification CPT code that may apply is 87077. Antimicrobial susceptibilities are performed when requested, and the following CPT codes may apply: 87181, 87184, 87186.

Clinical Info

Guidelines for the diagnosis of Group A streptococcal pharyngitis are available from IDSA (Clin Infect Dis 2012; 55:e86-102).