REMOVAL OF INHIBITORS OF CSF-PCR TO IMPROVE DIAGNOSIS OF HERPESVIRAL ENCEPHALITIS

CSF-PCR is currently the most sensitive test to diagnose encephalitis due to cytomegalovirus or herpes simplex virus. However, false negativ e results sometimes arise due to inhibitors in CSF. We have shown that the inhibitory effects may be due to increased levels of proteins and increased cell numbers, but are not due to cellular DNA. Simple techn iques were used to remove the inhibitors and successfully apply these methods to CSF specimens that gave equivocal results when tested untre ated. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.