PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Tibbetts, Robert J. TI - Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing Paradigms: Current Status and Future Directions AID - 10.29074/ascls.2018000455 DP - 2018 Apr 01 TA - American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science PG - 81--87 VI - 31 IP - 2 4099 - http://hwmaint.clsjournal.ascls.org/content/31/2/81.short 4100 - http://hwmaint.clsjournal.ascls.org/content/31/2/81.full SO - Clin Lab Sci2018 Apr 01; 31 AB - wAntimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) results are among the most important pieces of information a clinical microbiology lab can release, and clinicians rely heavily on them to care for their patients. Because of the clinical importance of these results, it is imperative that testing is performed under optimal conditions with standardized approaches to quality control, interpretation, and reporting. There are a variety of in vitro methods to determine bacterial antimicrobial susceptibilities as well as interpretive criteria and testing limitations that have been vetted through the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute and the European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing. The goal in Part I of this two-part section is to review the general background, breakpoint development, and governance of AST testing, and the goal in Part II is to review the standardization of the various methods of AST, their limitations and associated challenges, and the future of AST using newer technologies.