Routinely Performed
- Opening pressure
- Total Cell count (WBC & RBC)
- Cell differential count
- Glucose (CSF/plasma ratio)
- Total protein
Useful in Specific Situations
- Microbiological stains:
- Gram stain
- Acid-Fast stain
- Microbiological cultures:
- Bacterial culture
- Fungal culture
- TB culture
- Microbiological Antigens:
- VDRL
- Pneumococcus / meningococcus
- Cryptococcus
- Aspergillus
- Toxoplasmosis
- Viral PCR
- Viral culture
- Lactate
- Electrophoresis
- Cytologic examination
- Specific proteins (CRP, Tau, B-amyloid)