RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Antimicrobial susceptibility testing and patterns of resistance at a tertiary care center JF Saudi Medical Journal JO Saudi Med J FD Prince Sultan Military Medical City SP 569 OP 576 VO 22 IS 7 A1 Akhter, Javed A1 Qutub, Mohammed O. A1 Qadri, Syed M. YR 2001 UL http://smj.org.sa/content/22/7/569.abstract AB Clinical microbiology laboratories are faced with the challenge of accurately detecting emerging antibiotic resistance in bacterial pathogens. In recent years, vancomycin resistant enterococci have emerged, as have penicillin resistant pneumococci and more recently, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus with reduced susceptibility to vancomycin. In order to detect these emerging resistant pathogens it is essential that antimicrobial susceptibility be carried out by laboratories as an integral part of therapeutic strategies. In this review, we discuss patterns of susceptibility of different antimicrobials as experienced at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, a tertiary care center in Riyadh.