Lab

Cerebrospinal Fluid Color

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Cerebrospinal Fluid Color, CSF Color

  • See Also
  1. Cerebrospinal Fluid
  2. Lumbar Puncture
  • Interpretation
  • Normal
  1. Clear as water
  • Interpretation
  • Abnormal findings
  1. Faint yellow, orange or pink (Xanthochromia)
    1. CSF Protein >100 mg/dl
    2. Red Blood Cell lysis
    3. Red Blood Cell >100,000/mm3 (Subarachnoid Hemorrhage)
  2. Cloudy or turbid
    1. CSF Leukocytes > 200 wbc/mm3
    2. Red Blood Cells > 400 per mm3
  3. Brown or Dark CSF
    1. Metastatic Melanoma (meningeal Melanomatosis)
    2. Jaundice (Hyperbilirubinemia)
  4. Green CSF
    1. Hyperbilirubinemia
    2. Purulent cerebrospinal fluid
  • References
  1. Kooiker in Roberts (1998) Procedures in ER, p. 1067-75
  2. Ravel (1995) Lab Medicine, Mosby, p. 294-9
  3. Tunkel in Mandell (2000) Infectious Disease, p. 974-8
  4. Seehusen (2003) Am Fam Physician 68:1103-8 [PubMed]