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The Serological Diagnosis of Eosinophilic Lung (Tropical Eosinophilia) and Its Etiological Implications^*

T. J. Danaraj, L. S. da Silva AND John F. Schacher

The complement fixation test using as antigen a 1% alcoholic extract of dried D. immitis powder was applied to the sera of: 228 persons with hypereosinophilia of 3,000 or more cells per cu. mm, 213 of whom were diagnosed as eosinophilic lung; 85 persons with mild eosinophilia of less than 3,000 cells per cu.mm; 119 cases of human filariasis; 33 dogs with D. immitis infection; 30 cases of severe ascariasis; 160 normal individuals. The test was positive, in the majority of instances in high titer, in 95.3% of the cases of eosinophilic lung, whereas in the various control groups, positive reactions in relatively low titers were obtained in only 5.6% to 21.2% of cases. After treatment with diethylcarbamazine, the FCFT titers gradually diminished in all the patients suffering from eosinophilic lung, becoming negative in 95.4% of those who had completed the full observation period of 30 weeks.

It is felt that the FCFT can be used to differentiate eosinophilic lung from other conditions associated with an eosinophilia. The value of the test in the diagnosis of atypical cases is shown.

In view of the finding of sensitivity to filarial proteins in cases of eosinophilic lung, the etiological possibility of a filarial infection, not necessarily human, is discussed.

^* An investigation conducted under the sponsorship of the Commission on Parasitic Diseases, Armed Forces Epidemiological Board, and supported in part by the Office of the Surgeon General, Department of the Army.

Present address: Department of Tropical Medicine and Public Health, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, Louisiana.

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