Saima Bashir, Safia Fatima, Munir Akmal Lodhi, Naveed Asif, Ayesha Hafeez, Ammara Ayub, Aamir Ijaz.
Pattern of cystic fibrosis based on sweat chloride test in children-a hospital based analysis.
Pak J Pathol Jan ;28(2):85-91.

Objective: To determine the clinical and biochemical pattern of cystic fibrosis based on sweat chloride test in children referred with suspected clinical features. Study design: Cross Sectional Study. Place & duration of study: Department of Chemical Pathology & Endocrinology, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP) Rawalpindi, from Jan 2012 to July 2016. Results: In the period from Jan 2012 to July we tested 657 patients with 66 % males and 34 % females. Out of 657 patients 22 (3.3%) were confirmed for cystic fibrosis (> 80 mmol/L); 19 (3%) were having borderline values (60 - 80 mmol/L) and 616 were normal. Most common presentation was repeated hospital admissions due to cough and fever 86%. The average amount of chloride in sweat of female patients was 108.6 +- 26.4 mmol/L while for male patients it was 109.1 +- 20.6 mmol/L, p=0.61.Conclusion: This hospital-based study indicates cystic fibrosis and its variant, although rare, do exist in our set up. So, facilities for sweat chloride and genetic analysis of cystic fibrosis should be increased.

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