1 Department of Pediatrics, University of Colorado Medical Center, 4200 E. Ninth Avenue, Denver, Colorado 80220
Those of us who have investigated the usefulness of the NBT histochemical (slide) test as an aid to the diagnosis of bacterial infections, share part of the skepticism and caution of Dr. Abello. The test can be altered by drug therapy such as prednisone1 or chemotherapeutic agents and in diseases like hemophilia and osteogenesis imperfecta.2 However, it is too early to discard this test or relegate it to the category of the WBC and differential in its usefulness.