The electrolyte content of the sweat in fibrocystic disease of the pancreas.

A diagnosis of fibrocystic disease of the pancreas is usually based on the following clinical criteria: failure to grow at the normal rate despite an adequate calorie intake, the passage of frequent loose, offensive stools often with a characteristic odour, and the tendency to respiratory tract infections which prove unusually resistant to treatment. These symptoms, together with a finding that pancreatic enzyme activity is absent in samples of duodenal juice obtcLined by intubation, establish the diagnosis. The collection of adequate samples of duodenal juice for analysis may prove tedious both for the ward and the patient and an alternative diagnostic procedure of greater simplicity would be an advantage. The concept of fibrocystic disease has undergone some change in recent years and it is now generally agreed that it is a disease of mucus and non-mucus secretory glands. One of the most interesting developments is that the electrolyte content of sweat and saliva may be abnormal in patients with the condition. It was observed (Di Sant'Agnese, Darling, Perera and Shea, 1953) that levels of sodium above 80 m.Eq. per litre and chlorides above 60 m.Eq. per litre in the sweat were diagnostic of fibrocystic disease. Similar results for the electrolyte content of sweat in fibrocystic disease have been recently reported by Finch (1956). The present paper confirms that the sweat electrolytes are abnormally high in known cases of the disease and describes a convenient technique for the collection and analysis of specimens of sweat.