Cerebrospinal fluid free kappa light chains and kappa index perform equal to oligoclonal bands in the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis

摘要

Background: Detection of intrathecal immunoglobulin G (IgG) synthesis by gold standard oligoclonal bands (OCB) or IgG index remains an integral part of multiple sclerosis (MS) diagnostics, although both methods have weaknesses. Emerging evidence suggests that automated detection of free light chains (FLC) in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) has diagnostic performance equal to OCB. The objective of this study was to compare the diagnostic performance of CSF FLC with OCB and IgG index in a large cohort of Scandinavian patients referred for MS evaluation.