Endoscopic, radiological, and symptom correlation of olfactory dysfunction in pre- and postsurgical patients of chronic rhinosinusitis.

The aim of the present study was to correlate olfactory dysfunction determined with psychophysical testing with nasal endoscopy, computed tomography (CT) scan, and patient's self-assessed olfactory deficit in patients of chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) before and after sinus surgery. It was a prospective cohort study comprising of a total of 40 consecutive patients of CRS. All of them were given Connecticut Chemosensory Clinical Research Center Test for olfactory evaluation, nasal endoscopy, CT scan, and a graded questionnaire for perceived olfactory ability preoperatively on the same day after failing maximal medical management for 3 weeks. All investigations except CT scan were repeated 3 months postsinus surgery. For metrics, Visual Analog Scale (VAS) score, Lund Kennedy nasal endoscopy score, and Lund MacKay CT score were used. Spearman's correlation coefficients were determined between olfactory scores and endoscopic, CT, and VAS scores. Significant positive correlation was found between subjective VAS scores and composite odor scores both preoperatively (r = 0.89, P < 0.001) and 3 months postoperatively (r = 0.54, P < 0.001). Significant negative correlation was established between olfactory scores and CT (r = -0.71, P < 0.001). With nasal endoscopy also, the correlation results of odor scores were significant (r = -0.39, P = 0.01 in preoperative period and r = -0.47, P = 0.002 in postoperative period). Hence, it could be concluded that severity of olfactory disturbance determined by olfactory tests correlates well with nasal endoscopic findings, presence of CT opacification, and the patient's self-perceived olfactory insufficiency in CRS both before and after sinus surgery and can guide us well to determining the olfactory burden.