Pathology Handbook

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Alzheimer

Alternative Names:

Abeta
Tau

Laboratory:

Clinical Biochemistry

Test Code:

ALZHEIM

Specimen Types:

Cerebrospinal Fluid

Container Types:

CSF Tube (blue capped PP)

Adults Volume or Mass:

5 mL

Minimum/Paediatric Volume or Mass:

5 mL

Collection & Request Instructions:

Must be approved by a Chemical Pathologist.

Lumber puncture. Prefererably before Noon.

Collect 1-2 mL CSF in standard collection tubes for glucose and protein and cell counts. Perform testing at The Alfred

Collect 2.5 mL of clear, non-haemolysed CSF into a blue capped PP tube. If reddish, collect aditional CSF into a new tube. Send tube(s) to NDDL

DO NOT FREEZE CSF

The NDDL referral form must be completed prior to referral.

Transport Instructions between Sites and/or Laboratories:

RoomTemp within Alfred/Esky from External sites

Assay Frequency:

Weekly

External Laboratory:

National Dementia Diagnostics Laboratory

Additional Notes:

Reference Intervals

CSF marker	Normal Reference (ng/L)
Abeta1-42	> 1030
Phospho-tau (P-tau)181	≤ 27
Total-tau (T-tau)	≤ 300
P-tau/Abeta1-42	≤ 0.023
T-tau/Abeta1-42	≤ 0.28

The CSF biomarkers Abeta1-42 and P-tau levels and the P-tau/Abeta1-42 ratio offer approximately 85-95% predictive value for
supporting underlying Alzheimer's disease neuropathologic changes based on Abeta amyloid-PET imaging (1).

The normal reference ranges are based on strictly defined pre-analytical handling parameters for CSF specimens. Failure to adhere to
the collection instructions may result in falsely low Abeta1-42 concentrations, affecting the interpretation (2).
*Note: As of 28/02/2022, the Roche Elecsys Immunoassay Generation II for CSF is used for testing.

The phone number to discuss this report is 03 9035 7243 (NDDL)

1. Hansson et al.,Alzheimer's & Dementia 2018; 14: 1470; Schindler et al. Alzheimer’s & Dementia 14 (2018) 1460.
2. https://pim-eservices.roche.com/eLD/api/downloads/7aa19107-2bbd-eb11-0391-005056a772fd?countryIsoCode=au