Olfactory Function Assessment

Abstract Having an enormous importance not only in one’s quality of life, but also in one’s health and personal safety, the olfactory function assessment has begun to gain more and more interest amongst the ENT practitioners. However, at the moment, there is no worldwide accepted evaluation protocol available despite the fact that studies regarding smell disorders and their evaluation have been published all over the world. The purpose of this article is to present the olfactory assessment methods practiced today not only in different clinics from Europe and the USA, but also in Romania, because we have recently started to study the olfactory function disturbances. Three of the most interesting clinical cases, assessed in our ENT Department of the “Sfanta Maria” Clinical Hospital between 2015 and 2016, will be discussed in the current paper.

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Loss of smell in patients with COVID-19

Neurology ◽

10.1212/wnl.0000000000010806 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 95 (23) ◽

pp. e3145-e3152 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Michael Eliezer ◽

Anne-Laurel Hamel ◽

Emmanuel Houdart ◽

Philippe Herman ◽

Juliette Housset ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ◽

Early Stage ◽

Olfactory Function ◽

Controlled Study ◽

Healthy Controls ◽

Complete Obstruction ◽

3T Mri ◽

Function Loss ◽

Function Assessment

ObjectiveTo assess the physiopathology of olfactory function loss (OFL) in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), we evaluated the olfactory clefts (OC) on MRI during the early stage of the disease and 1 month later.MethodsThis was a prospective, monocentric, case-controlled study. Twenty severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2)–infected patients with OFL were included and compared to 20 age-matched healthy controls. All infected patients underwent olfactory function assessment and 3T MRI, performed both at the early stage of the disease and at the 1-month follow-up.ResultsAt the early stage, SARS-CoV2–infected patients had a mean olfactory score of 2.8 ± 2.7 (range 0–8), and MRI displayed a complete obstruction of the OC in 19 of 20 patients. Controls had normal olfactory scores and no obstruction of the OC on MRI. At the 1 month follow-up, the olfactory score had improved to 8.3 ± 1.9 (range 4–10) in patients, and only 7 of 20 patients still had an obstruction of the OC. There was a correlation between olfactory score and obstruction of the OC (p = 0.004).ConclusionOFL in SARS-CoV2–infected patients is associated with a reversible obstruction of the OC.

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Olfactory Function Assessment: Standardization of a New Quantitative Technique for the Indian Population

Journal of Pharmaceutical Research International ◽

10.9734/jpri/2021/v33i29a31566 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 76-83

Author(s):

Navya Jith Jacob ◽

D. Rajkumar ◽

M. Sudha ◽

Varsha Varghese ◽

J. K. Mukkadan

Keyword(s):

Parkinson’S Disease ◽

Parkinson's Disease ◽

Indian Population ◽

Cost Effective ◽

Olfactory Function ◽

Recognition Threshold ◽

Discrimination Score ◽

Olfactory Recognition ◽

Identification Score ◽

Function Assessment

Aim: Olfactory function assessment is often neglected in clinical settings due to a lack of appropriate cost effective techniques. We therefore aimed to develop a cost effective, reliable and culturally appropriate tool for olfactory function assessment among the Indian population and to compare olfactory functions among 63 healthy controls and 32 idiopathic Parkinson’s disease patients. Materials and Methods: Olfactory stimuli were applied to the nostrils of the participants using an olfactometer. Five different odoriferous substances common to Indian culture were used for the study in three different concentrations: ginger (1%, 2%, 3%), cardamom (0.4%, 2%, 3%), garlic (0.8%, 1.4%, 2%), coffee (1.6%, 2%, 4%), vanilla (2%, 3%, 4%). Olfactory recognition threshold, olfactory identification score and olfactory discrimination score were observed among the control population and Parkinson’s disease population. Results: The olfactory recognition threshold was significantly high among the Parkinson’s disease group compared to controls (Mann Whitney U test, p<0.001). Reliability was tested using the test-retest method among the control group and all olfactory variables in three different concentrations had either r value closer to 1 or 1, which shows an acceptable level of reliability. The correlation was found to be significant (p<0.001). A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve drawn for olfactory recognition thresholds at different concentrations for the five odouriferous substances and the area was determined to classify cases and controls (Determined areas: ginger = 0.928, cardamom = 0.955, garlic = 0.921, Coffee = 0.950, vanilla = 0.950). The area under the curve was found to be significant in classifying the cases and the control. Conclusion: The newly developed olfactory assessment tool was found to be reliable and effective in assessing olfactory parameters like recognition threshold, identification score and discrimination score among the Indian population.

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