Can CSF spectrophotometry for "Xanthochromia" be used to detect leaking subarachnoid aneurysms in patients with sickle cell anemia with negative MRI or CT angiogram despite hyperbilirubinemia?

Wan Yung Siu; William Thomas; Rikin Trivedi; Alexandra Hogan; Umbareen Siddiqi; Anita Sarker; Martin Wolfgang Besser

doi:10.1002/ccr3.2775

Can CSF spectrophotometry for "Xanthochromia" be used to detect leaking subarachnoid aneurysms in patients with sickle cell anemia with negative MRI or CT angiogram despite hyperbilirubinemia?

Clin Case Rep. 2020 Mar 12;8(5):894-899. doi: 10.1002/ccr3.2775. eCollection 2020 May.

Authors

Wan Yung Siu¹, William Thomas¹, Rikin Trivedi², Alexandra Hogan^{3

4}, Umbareen Siddiqi³, Anita Sarker⁵, Martin Wolfgang Besser¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Haematology Addenbrooke's Hospital Cambridge UK.
² Department of Neurosurgery Addenbrooke's Hospital Cambridge UK.
³ Department of Anaesthetics Addenbrooke's Hospital Cambridge UK.
⁴ Cognitive Neuroscience & Psychiatry UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health London UK.
⁵ Department of Biochemistry Addenbrooke's Hospital Cambridge UK.

Abstract

CSF (Cerebrospinal Fluid) xanthochromia by spectroscopy should not be dismissed in the context of hyperbilirubinemia in a patient with sickle cell anemia. Xanthochromia detected by spectrophotometry offers a vital clue that further invasive diagnosis is required.

Keywords: CSF xanthochromia; Sickle cell anemia; polycystic kidney disease; spectroscopy; subarachnoid hemorrhage.

Publication types

Case Reports