Rapid differential diagnosis between subarachnoid hemorrhage and traumatic lumbar puncture by D-dimer assay.

摘要

To the Editor: Subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) and traumatic lumbar puncture (TLP) are both associated with blood-tinged cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). It is often difficult if not impossible to distinguish between SAH and TLP (1, 2) by available CSF tests such as (a) measurement of xantho-chromia of the supernatant after cen-trifugation, (b) counting of erythro-cytes in the first and last tubes of collected CSF, or (c) searching of CSF microscopically for crenated erythro-cytes (3-5).