Lumbar drains can affect CSF biomarker levels

Bacterial meningitis associated with lumbar drains: a retrospective cohort study.

OBJECTIVES The infective potential of lumbar drainage is an important topic deserving particular study. The aetiology, incidence, and clinical findings associated with bacterial meningitis are described in patients having continuous lumbar CSF drainage to treat communicating hydrocephalus after subarachnoid haemorrhage or CSF leaks after traumatic dural rents. METHODS Retrospective review of ...

A "Guided" technique for insertion of lumbar cerebrospinal fluid drains.

Lumbar CSF Drainage for Spinal Cord Protection

As disease awareness and diagnostic modalities continue to improve, the prevalence of thoracic aortic disease (aneurysm and dissection) is increasing, affecting up to 16.3 individuals per 100,000 per year. 1,2 However lifesaving surgery may be, paraplegia remains one of the most devastating complications of thoracoabdominal aortic surgery and is associated with a significant increase in both mo...

Nuclear factor TDP-43 can affect selected microRNA levels.

TDP-43 has recently been described as the major component of the inclusions found in the brain of patients with a variety of neurodegenerative diseases, such as frontotemporal lobar degeneration and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. TDP-43 is a ubiquitous protein whose specific functions are probably crucial to establishing its pathogenic role. Apart from its involvement in transcription, splicing...

Can agrin CSF concentration be used as an early biomarker for Alzheimer ’ s disease ?

The need for effective treatments halting Alzheimer’s disease (AD) urges the discovery of the earliest possible biomarkers. Agrin is increased in early stages of AD tissue and is involved in amyloid-β (Aβ) fibrillation and synaptogenesis. Here, we investigated the potential of agrin as an early AD cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarker. We analyzed agrin CSF concentration in non-demented controls ...