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Utility of Urine Reagent Strips for Analysis of Cerebrospinal Fluid in Emergency Settings: A Cross-sectional Study
EC46-EC49
Correspondence
Dr. Rumana Tasneem,
#2469, 5th Cross, Gandhinagar, Mandya-571401, Karnataka, India.
E-mail: drrumana.mims@gmail.com
Introduction: Meningitis is the inflammation of the meninges which covers brain and spinal cord, which if not identified on time will result in permanent neurological deficit or death. Mainly divided into septic and aseptic meningitis, differentiating these two and timely intervention would prevent neurological damage. Cerebrospinal Fluid (CSF) analysis helps to arrive at a diagnosis of meningitis which requires relevant trained staff and adequately equipped laboratory. These are not available in most of the healthcare centers in rural settings.
Aim: To evaluate the role of urinary reagent strip method in rapid analysis of CSF, to assist the clinician in the bedside diagnosis or exclusion of meningitis and to compare the values obtained by rapid method with that of results obtained by automated analyser.
Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was done in Pathology laboratory of Mandya Institute of Medical Sciences, District Hospital, Karnataka, Mandya, India. A total of 30 samples evaluated during the period of two months in 2019 (15th August to 15th October). Cerebrospinal fluid analysis was tested using combur- 10 urinary reagent strip and microscopy examination as reference standards. Automated analysers were used for the analysis of protein and glucose; and Neubauer’s counting chamber was used for leucocytes count. Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) version 22.0 and Microsoft Excel were used to analyse data and generate tables.
Results: The sensitivity and specificity of urinary strips in the analysis of cerebrospinal fluid for glucose, protein, leucocytes was 50.00%, 41.67%, 78.57% and 92.31%, 88.89%, 68.75% respectively. Diagnostic accuracy of urinary strip tests for glucose, protein and leucocytes were 83.33% 93.34% 86.67% respectively.
Conclusion: The study shows the reliable sensitivity and specificity in some parameters, hence can be used in remote settings.