The brain’s ‘soup’ or CSF is rich with information that may exude from processes within the CNS. It is once again an integral part of the new diagnostic criteria, but an alternative assay to the usual and tedious detection of CSF-specific IgG oligoclonal bands (OCB) is the measurement of kappa free light chains (KFLC); a rapid single step assay that retains the same sensitivity and specificity of OCB. CSF might be particularly useful in the new asymptomatic form of MS called RIS, where a single MRI can strongly suggest a diagnosis of MS. Finally, using advanced techniques of detection, many other molecules can be assayed together to inform on or predict prognosis and progression. Level of Information: AdvancedThe brain’s ‘soup’ or CSF is rich with information that may exude from processes within the CNS. It is once again an integral part of the new diagnostic criteria, but an alternative assay to the usual and tedious detection of CSF-specific IgG oligoclonal bands (OCB) is the measurement of kappa free light chains (KFLC); a rapid single step assay that retains the same sensitivity and specificity of OCB. CSF might be particularly useful in the new asymptomatic form of MS called RIS, where a single MRI can strongly suggest a diagnosis of MS. Finally, using advanced techniques of detection, many other molecules can be assayed together to inform on or predict prognosis and progression. Level of Information: Advanced
