Interdisciplinary cerebrospinal fluid laboratory

Analyses of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples place high demands on the executing laboratory. Apart from the directive of the Federal German Medical Association of Medical Doctors for the quality assurance of medical laboratory investigations (RiLiBAK), the guidelines and method catalogue of the German Society for Liquor Diagnostics and Clinical Neurochemistry (DGLN) need to be used. Historically, CSF diagnostics are carried out in laboratories tightly connected to neurological departments. In general, CSF diagnostics are offered by central laboratories, partly for the reason that independent neurological laboratories do not exist and partly for the need to supply diagnostics at night-time and at weekends in acute patient care. This may result in a double structure with differences in methods used, evaluation, or reporting. The execution of CSF diagnostics in an interdisciplinary CSF laboratory merges the expertise of both medical disciplines, which results in increased quality of patient care and better economic conditions simultaneously.