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Figure 1. A 71-year-old woman with a history of asthma presented with a productive cough, fever, and shortness of breath that had begun four days previously. The patient had a white-cell count of 18,400 per cubic millimeter, with 68 percent eosinophils. A centrifuged sample of her bronchoalveolar-lavage specimen contained microscopic structures identified as Curschmann's spirals (Papanicolaou stain, x1000). Curschmann's spirals, which can be seen on a wet preparation or on a Papanicolaou-stained specimen of respiratory secretions, are associated with the production of excess mucus in conditions such as asthma and bronchitis and as a result of smoking.
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