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A member asked:
What exactly is a csf culture & what is its purpose? is it difficult to perform and does it take longer than blood cultures for a result to come back?
3 doctors weighed in across 2 answers
Spinal tap: CSF is cerebrospinal fluid which is obtained through a lumbar puncture or spinal tap. It would be sent for culture to check for bacterial vs. viral or aseptic meningitis. Depending on the organism being cultured for it can take a few days to weeks for a result
Answered 8/23/2016
1k views
Similar to blood: A CSF culture is when you take a sample of CSF (usually from a lumbar puncture which samples the CSF from the spinal canal in the lower back - so yes a bit more difficult to perform but still pretty routine) and culture it to see if there are bacteria (or sometimes viruses) growing in it, usually to look for meningitis. It takes the same amount of time as a blood culture (48 hours).
Answered 8/23/2016
1k views
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Is it safe to live with a csf leak caused by a myelogram?What are the long term consequences? 2 epidural blood patches havent fixed the leak I have.
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Pulled hospital records to see LP results. Gluc/protein(n) electrophoresis(n) albumin (h), cultures(-), myelin basic (n). The rest was sent to mayo and another. Does all csf or ms labs process through mayo? Does mayo send results to back to hospital?
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Hi just had csf leak repair and it feels like there is something stuck up my nose and I have gooey blood going down my throat.this normal?
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