Cerebrospinal Fluid
CSF, Spinal Tap, Spinal Fluid Aspiration, Lumbar Puncture
- Tech Only CPT 88108
- Tech Pro CPT 88108 (2)
- PowerPath Code NGCS
- Schedule Monday - Friday
- Turn Around Time Within 2 business days of receipt
- Disease State Benign Conditions, Leukemia, Lymphoma, Malignant Conditions, Metastatic Cancers
- Methodology Cell Concentrated Cytology
Organs
Specimen Requirements
Fresh fluid in sterile container. No minimum/maximum volume requirements. Small volume may limit processing and/or interpretation. Any samples suspected of having prion disease will NOT be accepted.
Clinical Significance
Cellular morphology of cytologic specimens is interpreted to diagnose inflammatory, neoplastic and non-neoplastic conditions. In addition, cytologic diagnoses is used to monitor recurrent and metastatic malignant conditions.
Required Patient Info
2 patient identifiers
Storage and Transportation
Cerebrospinal fluids are very fragile and should be sent to the laboratory within 48 hours for processing. When possible, store specimen at 2°C - 8°C. Do not freeze.
Cause for Rejection
Improper or inadequate patient identification or frozen specimens.
CellNetix does NOT accept specimens where prion diseases (CJD or other types of TSEs) are suspected. These specimens should be sent by the provider directly to the National Prion Pathology Surveillance Center at Case Western Reserve University.
Retention
Primary specimen container: 7 days from processing
Slide: 10 years