Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is routinely investigated to diagnose subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH) in cases with unclear neuroimaging findings. Using spectrophotometry, the levels of bilirubin and oxyhaemoglobin are analysed. This study investigates the stability for bilirubin and oxyhaemoglobin in CSF samples for up to 3 weeks measured with a spectrophotometer. The absorbances corresponding to bilirubin (455 nm) and oxyhaemoglobin (415 nm) remained fairly stable for up to 3 weeks when samples were stored at +4 °C with light protection. There was a statistically significant trend of decreased absorbance for both oxyhaemoglobin and bilirubin already after exposure to light within 120 min from sampling. It is therefore advisable to protect CSF from light until spectrophotometric analysis.
Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is routinely investigated to diagnose subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH) in cases with unclear neuroimaging findings. Using spectrophotometry, the levels of bilirubin and oxyhaemoglobin are analysed. This study investigates the stability for bilirubin and oxyhaemoglobin in CSF samples for up to 3 weeks measured with a spectrophotometer.
The diagnosis of subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is extremely important for appropriate management. Cerebral computed tomography (CT), used as the first-line investigation to detect bleeding, has excellent sensitivity if performed promptly, but its sensitivity falls sharply with the time elapsed since the onset of SAH. Oxyhemoglobin and bilirubin, the breakdown products of heme, are detectable in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) by spectrophotometric absorption, which defines the search for xanthochromia pigment in CSF.
Objective: There is still disagreement about whether to routinely use spectrophotometry to detect xanthochromia in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) or whether visual inspection is adequate. We aimed to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of these methods in detecting an aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage in patients with sudden onset severe headache.
Background: When a patient presents to the emergency department with a headache for which there is suspicion of a subarachnoid hemorrhage, the gold standard to rule this out is to perform a CSF analysis for xanthochromia with or without spectrophotometry if the cranial non-contrast computed tomography (CT) upon admission is negative.
Significance: Evaluation of biological chromophore levels is useful for detection of various skin diseases, including cancer, monitoring of health status and tissue metabolism, and assessment of clinical and physiological vascular functions. Clinically, it is useful to assess multiple different chromophores with a single technique or instrument.
Aim: To investigate the possibility of estimating the concentration of four chromophores, bilirubin, oxygenated hemoglobin, deoxygenated hemoglobin, and melanin from diffuse reflectance spectra in the visible region.
