A Study of Cerebrospinal Fluid Examination using Urine Reagent Strips for Diagnosis of Meningitis

Background: Diagnosis of suspected meningitis is still a problem in rural areas where sound laboratory setups are not available. An early recognition of meningitis and its timely interventions can help to cure the disease. The urine reagent strips may help in evaluation of Cerebrospinal Fluid (CSF) leukocytes, proteins and glucose. Our aim was to study the role of urine reagent strip for rapid diagnosis of meningitis. Methods: This was prospective single-blinded study conducted on 50 CSF samples of suspected cases of meningitis. The samples were subjected to routine standard CSF examination and index text using urine reagent strips for semi quantitative analysis of CSF leucocytes, proteins and glucose. The diagnostic accuracy of the reagent strip for different cutoff levels was estimated and tabulated in the form of sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value. Medcalc software was used for statistical analysis. Result: The sensitivity and specificity for leucocytes using strip method were 26% and 100% respectively, for the proteins 56% and 85% respectively and for glucose, it was 88% and 73 % respectively. The accuracy for leucocytes, proteins and glucose were 72%, 72% and 84% respectively. Conclusions: The urinary strips have limited use in the bedside diagnosis of meningitis. How to cite this article: Buch A, Gupta D, Vasu B, Rathod H. A Study of Cerebrospinal Fluid Examination using Urine Reagent Strips for Diagnosis of Meningitis. Rec Adv Path Lab Med 2019; 5(4): 1-6. DOI: https://doi.org/10.24321/2454.8642.201919