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CSF Cells: Cell Count, Cytomorphology, Cytology, and Immunophenotyping

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Cerebrospinal Fluid Biomarkers

Part of the book series: Neuromethods ((NM,volume 168))

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Abstract

Assessing the number and type of CSF cells are integral parts of the diagnostic workup of CSF analysis. However, microscopic evaluation of cell morphology provides additional important details that may be missed, if omitted, such as different stages of leukocyte activation, stages of phagocytosis, atypical cells, or tumor cells. While such level of detail may be not required for each and every sample, microscopic evaluation is recommended at least for all cases of differential diagnosis. This chapter provides a review of standard techniques and guidance for interpretation, including comments about potential pitfalls and advice for special cases.

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Acknowledgments

We thank all technicians, scientists, and physicians of the CSF laboratory of the Department of Neurology at the University Hospital Ulm. Our special thanks go to Dagmar Vogel, Dr. Andreas Junker, MD, and Dr. Vera Lehmensiek, PhD for preparation of the cyto-images.

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Correspondence to Sigurd D. Süssmuth .

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Süssmuth, S.D., Tumani, H. (2021). CSF Cells: Cell Count, Cytomorphology, Cytology, and Immunophenotyping. In: Teunissen, C.E., Zetterberg, H. (eds) Cerebrospinal Fluid Biomarkers. Neuromethods, vol 168. Humana, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-1319-1_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-1319-1_1

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  • Publisher Name: Humana, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-0716-1318-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-0716-1319-1

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