Creatinine, CSF

Diagnostic Use

Creatinine is a waste product produced by skeletal muscle tissue. Creatinine is usually measured in the plasma as a biomarker of renal function.

It is very rarely necessary to measure creatinine in CSF. CSF creatinine measurement may be considered in the diagnosis of guanidinoacetate methyltransferase (GAMT) deficiency, although the measurement of the urine creatine/creatinine ratio is preferred for this purpose.

Department

Core Biochemistry

Delphic Registration Code

CSCR

Synonyms

CSF creatinine

Turnaround Time

3 hours

Test Code

6418

Specimen Type

• CSF

Specimen Requirements

Tube/Container Type:

Preferred

• Pottle

Paediatric Specimen Requirements

Tube/Container Type:

Preferred

• Pottle

Additional Specimen Information

Pre-Testing Requirements - Normal diet

Aliquot Instructions

Minimum Volume (ml)

0.1

Transport to Lab

Frozen

Interpretation

CSF creatinine measurement can be used as a surrogate of CSF creatine concentration.  CSF creatinine will be low in the inborn error of creatine metabolism guanidinoacetate methyltransferase deficiency.  However it is recommended to measure the urine creatine/creatinine ratio or a full urine metabolic screen if investigating for this condition.

Please note that the creatinine assay has not been validated for measurement on body fluid specimens. Results must be interpreted with caution.

Reference Intervals

20 – 50 umol/L

Test Method

Enzymatic spectrophotometry on a Beckman Coulter AU5822 analyser using Beckman Coulter reagents.

Non-Funded Test Cost

$8.88 (Exclusive of GST)

Billing Code

6418

Contact Information

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