Premium
Beta‐2 Transferrin
Author(s) -
Levenson Mark J.,
Desloge Rosemary B.,
Parisier Simon C.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
the laryngoscope
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.181
H-Index - 148
eISSN - 1531-4995
pISSN - 0023-852X
DOI - 10.1097/00005537-199602000-00010
Subject(s) - transferrin , perilymph , cerebrospinal fluid , beta (programming language) , medicine , inner ear , anatomy , computer science , programming language
Beta‐2 transferrin is a protein marker that can be used in the clinical setting to reliably identify the presence of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Recent literature has suggested that beta‐2 transferrin can also be used as a clinical marker for perilymph. This study investigates the use of a beta‐2 transferrin assay as a method to identify the presence of perilymph. Twenty‐two patients were enrolled in the study. Fluid samples were obtained intraoperatively and tested for the presence of beta‐2 transferrin. As expected, four CSF samples collected were positive for beta‐2 transferrin; however, four known perilymph samples collected from patients undergoing cochlear implantation were negative for beta‐2 transferrin, seven of nine known perilymph samples obtained during stapedectomies were negative for beta‐2 transferrin, and four of five samples collected during middle ear explorations for fistula were negative for beta‐2 transferrin. With current methodology beta‐2 transferrin does not appear to be a reliable clinical marker for perilymph in the operative setting.