Evaluation of a simple phenotypic method for the detection of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae

• We evaluated the performance of the Carbapenemase Detection Set (MAST-CDS).
• We examined 38 genotypically confirmed carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae.
• The sensitivity of MAST-CDS for KPC-2, IMP, and NDM-1 producers was 91% (32/35).
• MAST-CDS is easy to perform, rapid, simple to interpret, and highly sensitive.

We investigated the performance of a phenotypic test, the Carbapenemase Detection Set (MAST-CDS), for the identification of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae. Our results indicated that MAST-CDS is rapid, easily performed, simple to interpret, and highly sensitive for the identification of carbapenemase producers, particularly imipenemase producers.