SWEAT CHLORIDE IN PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC BRONCHIAL DISEASE AND ITS RELATION TO MUCOVISCIDOSIS (CYSTIC FIBROSIS)

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Sweat chloride measurements were made using induced heat to produce sweating in 83 white adults, divided into 35 control subjects and 48 patients with chronic bronchial disease. The mean sweat chloride level in the bronchitic group was significantly higher (49.5 [plus or minus] 23.4) than that of the control group (35.7 [plus or minus] 17.5). Clinical findings (pulmonary and gastrointestinal) and family histories in 9 bronchitic patients whose sweat chloride levels exceeded 71 mEq/1 (>2 standard deviations from the mean of the controls) suggested that these individuals had partial forms of cystic fibrosis. Changes in dietary salt intake with or without deoxycorticosterone altered sweat chloride concentrations in the control and bronchitic subjects tested, but not in one patient who had established cystic fibrosis. In view of the various factors which may alter concentration of sweat electrolytes in adults, correlation with clinical findings is needed before attributing an isolated instance of sweat chloride elevation to the presence of cystic fibrosis.