chloride (Cl-) in sweat

Indications

• sweat chloride using pilocarpine iontophoresis is the gold standard for diagnosis of cystic fibrosis (CF)

* measured along with sodium in sweat

Clinical significance

• normal is < 30 meq/L
• > 80 meq/L is abnormal in adults
• > 60 meq/L is abnormal in children
• abnormal results on at least 2 tests is necessary for diagnosis of cystic fibrosis; (2 weeks & 4 months)
• other conditions associated with high sweat [Na+] & [[[A18945|Cl-]]]
  • smoking
  • chronic bronchitis
  • malnutrition
  • hereditary nephrogenic diabetes insipidus
  • adrenal insufficiency
• ectodermal dysplasia

Increases

• cystic fibrosis

Notes

• sweat sodium is generally measured along with chloride as confirmation of the measured chloride value.

More general terms

• chloride (Cl-) in body fluid

Additional terms

• cystic fibrosis (CF, mucoviscidosis)
• pilocarpine iontophoresis

Patient information

sweat chloride patient information