As you know, Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is a clear, colorless body fluid found in the brain and spinal cord. It is produced by the specialized ependymal cells in the choroid plexuses of the ventricles of the brain and absorbed in the arachnoid granulations. This fluid is useful for diagnosis when the patient is suspected of meningitis either due to bacteria, virus, parasite, or even fungal infections. A clinician draws the CSF fluid in sterile tubes by lumbar puncture and sends it to the Microbiology laboratory for investigation. Therefore CSF analysis is helpful.
A sterile tube having CSF is received for culture and sensitivity.
Now follow the procedure as below-
CSF specimen
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Immediate process
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Centrifuge at 3000 RPM for 20 min in a sterile test tube
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Pour supernatant back to the vial and preserve
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Mix sediment
If no growth of organisms, report no growth of organism after 48 hours of incubation (fluid being sterile). If there is the growth of pathogens, perform biochemical tests and antibiotics sensitivity tests.
Report:
For example, … isolated
Sensitivity
Ampicillin: Resistance
Ceftriaxone: Sensitive
Ciprofloxacin: Intermediate
Ofloxacin: Sensitive
Amikacin: Sensitive
Gentamycin Sensitive
Meropenem: Sensitive
Chloramphenicol: Sensitive
Co-trimoxazole: Sensitive
Note: Antibiogram uses according to types of pathogens.
Neonate: E. coli, S. agalactiae, Listeria monocytoges, Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV)-2
< months: E. coli, S. agalactiae, L. monocytogenes
<10 years: Haemophilus influenzae, Neisseria meningitidis, Streptococcus pneumoniae, viruses
Young adults: N. meningitidis, viruses
Adult: Streptococcus pneumoniae, Neisseria meningitidis
Elderly: Streptococcus pneumoniae, Listeria monocytogenes, Coagulase Negative Staphylococci (CoNS)
AIDS patients: Cryptococcus neoformans
Note: According test ordered, you can also do India ink preparation for Cryptococcus capsule observation. similarly Gram stain, fungal culture and sensitivity, antigens detection, CSF wet mount for protozoan parasites Acanthomeba, Naegleria, and so on.