Curschmann's spiral are seen in: March 2007

Ans. A: Bronchial asthmaThe sputum of asthma is characteristic and consists of small, jelly-like balls floating in their mucin. These balls, "perles" of Laennec, are mucous molds of the small bronchioles, and when unrolled are found to be spiral in form, known as Curschmann's spirals, he being the first to describe them.They are often seen in association with eosinophilic infiltration and Charcot-Leyden crystals.The Papanicolaou stain gives a reddish core with a fuzzy margin to which many cells are attached secondarily.The spiral is about 1 mm long. These spirals, composed of a mucosubstance, may be seen in mucus plugs, sputum, as well as lavage fluid of asthmatic patients.They can occasionally be found in histologic sections of mucus in conditions other than asthma.Although first described in respiratory secretions of asthmatics, they also occur unrelated to asthma in vaginal secretions, and rarely in pleural and peritoneal effusions.