Sweat Electrolytes in Familial Pulmonary Disease

An effort is made to understand the intrarelationship of sweat electrolytes, familial pulmonary disease, and the well-known disease entity, cystic fibrosis of the pancreas. The sweat electrolytes in a family of eight were analyzed, with four of the members having increased or questionably increased concentrations of sweat electrolytes. Two of the members had marked pulmonary disease, while the remaining two had histories of repeated pulmonary infections. In this paper, the two reported cases are believed to represent an atypical (forme fruste) variety of the classic disease entity, cystic fibrosis of the pancreas. It is concluded that increased knowledge of exocrine gland function will be a great help in understanding the puzzling pathogenesis of certain pulmonary diseases.