The Colloidal Gold Test Of the Spinal Fluid

To the Editor:— Nicholas J. Fiumara, MD (Question and Answers, 208 :2168, 1969), stated in reply to a question about Lange's colloidal gold test, that it "offers little more in diagnostic help than the total protein test [of cerebrospinal fluid]." This statement may be valid in respect to the diagnosis of neurosyphilis but is incorrect if applied to neurologic diagnosis in general. 1 Multiple sclerosis and subacute sclerosing panencephalitis are two diseases often associated with an abnormal gold curve in the presence of a normal cerebrospinal fluid total protein value. In fact, an abnormal gold curve may call attention to these diagnostic possibilities, when they have not been previously suspected. In such cases a sample of cerebrospinal fluid should be sent to a more specialized laboratory which can perform electrophoretic studies.