CYTOLOGY AND HISTOCHEMISTRY OF SPUTUM CELLS .1. PRELIMINARY DIFFERENTIAL COUNTS IN CHRONIC BRONCHITIS

Abstract

Cytologic and bacteriologic examinations, as well as examination of the quantitative cellular content, were made of the sputum of 21 patients with long-standing chronic bronchitis. A total of 47 specimens were studied: 24 from patients during the stable periods of their disease, 14 from patients during acute inflammatory processes of the lung, and 9 from patients with secondary polycythemia. The total of each cell type excreted in a 24-hour period was determined whenever possible. These values were believed to reflect the total cellular response of the lung to the disease state. The neutrophil was the predominant cell type excreted, bronchial epithelial cells were second, and histiocytes third. Eosinophils constituted a very small part of the cellular response. During acute inflammatory processes, the excretion of all cell types increased. The greatest increase was due to neutrophils. The increase in bronchial epithelial cells was numerically due to an increase in basal cell excretion, but the relative increases in degenerating, goblet, and metaplastic cells were greater. The group with secondary polycythemia was distinctive in that the patients in this group had the highest frequency of inclusions in their histiocytes.