The Sweat Test in Cystic Fibrosis of the Pancreas

Introduction In 1953 di Sant'Agnese et al.1,2described a new diagnostic test for cystic fibrosis of the pancreas. This test was based on their discovery that the Na and Cl concentrations in sweat of patients with this disease is usually significantly higher than in normal persons and higher than in patients with a variety of other diseases. In the meanwhile other groups of investigators3-5came to the same conclusion. The object of this article is To examine whether a difference exists in the sweat-excretion rate at different places on the abdomen. To compare the concentrations of Na and Cl in the sweat at these places and to determine whether there are extreme variations in concentration which would affect the value of the sweat test. To compare our results of sweat analysis of patients with cystic fibrosis of the pancreas, of relatives of these patients, and