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Post-mortem cerebrospinal fluid diagnostics: cytology and immunocytochemistry method suitable for routine use to interpret pathological processes in the central nervous system

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Abstract

Due to its protected anatomical location, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is a very stable fluid which undergoes comparatively little change in the early post-mortem phase. While many immunohistochemical markers already established for clinical diagnostic issues in tissue samples obtained by biopsy could meanwhile be translated also to post-mortem tissue, no systematic immunocytochemical investigations have generally been conducted on post-mortem body fluids and for CSF specifically, have not been established at all. CSF as the fluid directly surrounding the brain should also be examined to allow a more detailed characterization of processes in the central nervous system. Comparing traumatized tissue and CSF can complete forensic assessment and complement neuropathological evaluation.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the preparators Heiko Besenfelder and Max Perschneck for their excellent support in collecting the specimens and Michaela Hartmann as well as the team of the CSF laboratory of the Neurological University Hospital for producing the preparations and stains.

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Correspondence to Simone Bohnert.

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This study has been reviewed and approved by the ethic committee of the University of Wuerzburg.

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Bohnert, S., Ondruschka, B., Bohnert, M. et al. Post-mortem cerebrospinal fluid diagnostics: cytology and immunocytochemistry method suitable for routine use to interpret pathological processes in the central nervous system. Int J Legal Med 133, 1141–1146 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-019-02050-z

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