Home
HelpCunningham Panel
Sample Requirements
Phlebotomists: Do not collect blood for the Cunningham Panel.
Please notify the ordering provider that this test is not available at Seattle Children's and we do not send this test out to other reference laboratories. Our Laboratory Stewardship Commitee has determined that there is no proven, evidence-based clinical utility for this test.
If a provider wishes to discuss this testing further, a reference lab faculty member may be reached through Lab Client Services at 206-987-2617.
Clinical Utility
The Cunningham Panel tests for several antibodies to diagnose PANS (pediatric acute neuropsychiatric syndrome) or PANDAS (pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcal infections). It's diagnostic performance is poor with research studies "indicating that the Cunningham Panel was no better than chance in detecting PANDAS in this sample." (1).
The following references evaluated the sensitivity and specificty of the Cunningham Panel, and determined it's utility to be non-informative for the diagnoses of PANS/PANDAS.
1) Hesselmark E, Bejerot S. Biomarkers for diagnosis of Pediatric Acute Neuropsychiatric Syndrome (PANS) - Sensitivity and specificity of the Cunningham Panel. J. Neuroimmunology. 2017; 312: 31-37.
2) Gilbert DL, Mink JW, Singer HS. A Pediatric Neurology Perspective on Pediatric Autoimmune Neurospyciatric Disorder Associated with Streptococcal Infection and Pediatric Acute-Onset Neuropsyciatric Syndrome. J Pediatrics. 2018; 199: 243-251.
3) Bejerot S, Hesselmark E. The Cunningham Panel is an unreliable biological measure. Translational Psychiatry. 2019; 9: 49-50.
Last Updated
October 16, 2020