A membrane filter technique for cerebrospinal fluid cytology

Abstract

✓ A simple membrane filter technique is described for the collection and demonstration of exfoliated neoplastic cells in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Abnormal cells were demonstrated in 30 cases: in four of these the diagnosis of a benign intracranial tumor was possible. Using this technique, it appears that cells from the majority of neoplasms in contact with the CSF will be demonstrable. This new technique is superior in many ways to the conventional concentration methods of centrifugation, flocculation, sedimentation, or filtration now used. The primary advantages are the simplicity, the bedside availability, the ability to reuse the filtered fluid for additional studies, the preservation of the cells for later analysis should a cytological laboratory not be immediately available, and, of primary importance, the excellent preservation of cellular morphology.