Psychological State and Sputum Eosinophilia

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Abstract
A 35 year old women with paroxysmal dyspneic attacks (probably asthma) was studied during her stay on a psychosomatic ward. Her daily behavior patterns were noted both by the nursing staff and her psychiatrist. Whenever her dyspneic attacks were severe enough to require parenteral medication, sputum samples were obtained. Initially the sputum was examined under the oil immersion lens to see if the occurrence of clusters of eosino-phils could be correlated with her predominent behavior patterns around the time of the attack. It was observed that when she was feeling helpless, discouraged, and showed no initiative her sputum was loaded with eosinophils; when she was able to utilize her more usual reactions of self-sufficiency, socializing and gaining vicarious pleasure from the activities of others, sputum produced by the attacks contained few or no eosinophils. Following the initial observations, an attempt was made to predict the presence or absence of eosinophils in the sputum of any attack by studying her behavior around the time of the attack. Of 18 predictions 17 were correct.

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