Quantitative determination of cerebrospinal fluid bilirubin on a high throughput chemistry analyzer.

Background: Subarachnoid hemorrhage is a condition with high rates of mortality and morbidity. The diagnosis requires an urgent cerebral computed tomography scan and also a lumbar puncture if the scan fails to demonstrate intracranial blood. In Sweden the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is analyzed by spectrophotometric scanning for the presence of hemoglobin and bilirubin. The aim of the study was to develop a quantitative diazo reagent based analysis of cerebrospinal fluid bilirubin as a replacement for spectrophotometric scanning.

Methods: The CSF bilirubin assay on an Architect C8000 chemistry analyzer was compared with spectrophotometry using patient samples.

Results: The method correlates with spectrophotometry, has a good linearity and precision.

Conclusions: Quantitative bilirubin measurement offers shorter turnaround times, simplifies the interpretation of the results and reduces work load in comparison with spectrophotometry.