[Possibilities in the virological laboratory diagnosis of CNS infections].

Viral infections of the central nervous system (CNS) are investigated by the use of a great lot of laboratory methods preferring organ-specific patients' material, f. e. cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Beside of the improvement of virus isolation procedures, antigen tests and assays on nucleic acid will get more importance for rapid viral diagnosis. Pathognomonic intrathecal antibody formation can be demonstrated by immunoglobulin class and subclass differentiation in CSF specimens. However, some of the slow virus diseases must still be retrospectively analysed by the means of a neuropathological laboratory.