Neurol. praxi. 2026;27(1):10-14 | DOI: 10.36290/neu.2025.041

The use of flow cytometry in cerebrospinal fluid diagnostics

Ing. Inka Matuchová, Ph.D.¹, MUDr. Ondřej Sobek, CSc., M.I.A.C.¹, MUDr. Lenka Ceprová^{1, 2}, doc. MUDr. Iuri Marinov, CSc.³, prof. MUDr. Jaroslava Dušková, CSc., F.I.A.C.^{1, 4}

¹ Laboratoř pro likvorologii, neuroimunologii, patologii a speciální diagnostiku, Topelex, s. r. o., Praha

² Neurologické oddělení, Ústřední vojenská nemocnice - Vojenská fakultní nemocnice, Praha

³ Laboratoř průtokové cytometrie, Ústav hematologie a krevní transfuze, Praha

⁴ Ústav patologie 1. LF UK a VFN, Praha

Diagnosis of central nervous system (CNS) tumor involvement is a highly responsible and demanding discipline. Qualitative cytological examination of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) plays a key role, particularly in meningeal tumor infiltrations, allowing the detection of morphological abnormalities of cells. Subsequent special staining immunocytochemical techniques and subsequent evaluation by a cytopathologist allow these atypical cells to be specified closer. If a tumor process originating from hematopoietic cells is suspected, immunophenotyping analysis is appropriate. In a limited sample, this allows the malignant leukocyte clone to be further characterized. For this purpose, we use flow cytometry. The presented case reports include the use of this method in cerebrospinal fluid diagnostics, highlight its limitation, and emphasize that the method should not be considered in isolation. It must be interpreted in the context of the basic cytological cerebrospinal fluid examination.

Keywords: cerebrospinal fluid, flow cytometry, cytology, immunocytochemistry, lymphoproliferative disorders.

Received: February 24, 2025; Revised: April 28, 2025; Accepted: April 28, 2025; Prepublished online: April 28, 2025; Published: March 11, 2026  Show citation