Sputum is mucus from the respiratory tract that can reveal important diagnostic information about various conditions. Key characteristics include quantity, type (e.g., watery, mucoid, purulent), and color, which can indicate specific health issues such as infections or pulmonary edema. Microscopic examination and culture tests help identify pathogens and determine appropriate treatments.

1. Sputum respiratory
expectoration
By Bhumi Senta

2. Definition
• Sputum, the mucus coughed up from the respiratory tract, can
provide important clues about a person's condition. Here are some
key points to understand sputum characteristics:

3. Quantity of sputum
• Scanty
• Moderate
• Large

4. Types of Sputum:
• Watery
• Mucoid
• Mucopurulent
• Purulent
• Colour of sputum

5. 1.Watery:
• Indicates conditions like
• pulmonary congestion,
• pulmonary edema, or
• certain cysts.

6. 2. Mucoid:
• Sticky sputum with increased mucin, often seen in
• bronchitis,
• asthma, and
• early stages of tuberculosis.

7. 3. Mucopurulent:
• Mixture of mucus and pus, commonly
• associated with infections of the bronchi and lungs.

8. 4. Purulent:
• Indicates respiratory tract infections, with large quantities of pus.

9. Colour of sputum
• Blackish: Inhalation of carbon particles, often seen in coal
miners or when there is lung tissue breakdown.
• Rusty or Khaki: Blood mixed with mucus, commonly seen in
lobar pneumonia.
• Small yellow sulphur granules: Actinomycosis of the lungs.
• Reddish: Presence of fresh or altered blood, indicating possible
bleeding in the lungs.

10. Colour of sputum con…
• Frothy pink: Pulmonary edema, characterized by fluid
accumulation in the lungs.
• Creamy yellow: Staphylococcus infection.
• Sticky brown-to-red or "currant jelly": Klebsiella (Friedlander's)
infection, with blood-tinged lung debris.
• Dark brown: Amoebic lung abscess or Paragonimus (lung fluke)
infection.
• Green: Pseudomonas infection or stagnant purulent sputum.

11. Other Abnormalities:-
• Discrete discs or nummular sputum: Suggests cavitation.-
• Dittrich's plugs: Foul-smelling caseous masses in bronchiectasis.
• - Curschmann's spirals: Coalescence of granules from eosinophils,
found in asthmatic sputum.
• Fibrinous casts: Greyish, white, or reddish-yellow particles from
smaller bronchi, seen in fibrinous bronchitis.-
• Asbestos bodies: Indicate exposure to asbestos dust.
• Hooklets: Associated with hydatid disease when a cyst ruptures into
the bronchus.

12. Odor:-
• Foul odor: Indicates infection with specific bacteria or anaerobes,
seen in conditions like lung abscess or bronchiectasis

13. Microscopic Examination:-
• Microscopic analysis can
• reveal fibrinous casts,
• bronchial spirals,
• elastic tissue,
• eosinophils,
• parasites, fungi, bacteria,
• malignant cells, and
• foreign bodies.

14. Culture and Antibiotic Sensitivity Tests:-
• Culturing sputum helps identify the specific microorganisms causing
infections, such as pneumonia or tuberculosis. Antibiotic sensitivity
tests determine the appropriate treatment.

15. Reference
• Galwalla medicine for students