Jerome R Lechien1,2,3,4, Pierre Cabaraux1,5, Carlos M Chiesa-Estomba1,6, Mohamad Khalife1,7, Jan Plzak8, Stéphane Hans1,3, Delphine Martiny9,10, Christian Calvo-Henriquez1,11, Maria R Barillari1,12, Claire Hopkins13,14, Sven Saussez1,2,4. 1. COVID-19 Task Force of the Young-Otolaryngologists of the International Federations of Oto-rhino-laryngological Societies (YO-IFOS), Paris, France. 2. Department of Human Anatomy and Experimental Oncology, Faculty of Medicine UMONS Research Institute for Health Sciences and Technology, University of Mons (UMons), Mons, Belgium. 3. Department of Surgery, Foch Hospital, School of Medicine, UFR Simone Veil, Université Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (Paris Saclay University), Paris, France. 4. Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, CHU de Bruxelles, CHU Saint-Pierre, School of Medicine, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium. 5. Department of Medicine, Neurology, CHU de Charleroi, Charleroi, Belgium. 6. Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, 16650Hospital Universitario Donostia, San Sebastian, Spain. 7. Department of Head and Neck Surgery, EpiCURA Hospital, Hornu, Belgium. 8. Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, 1st Faculty of Medicine, University Hospital Motol, Prague, Czech Republic. 9. Department of Microbiology, Laboratoire Hospitalier Universitaire de Bruxelles-Universitair Laboratorium Brussel (LHUB-ULB), Brussels, Belgium. 10. Faculté de Médecine et Pharmacie, 54521Université de Mons (UMONS), Mons, Belgium. 11. Department of Otolaryngology-Hospital Complex of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain. 12. Division of Phoniatrics and Audiology, Department of Mental and Physical Health and Preventive Medicine, University of Naples SUN, Naples, Italy. 13. Guy's and St Thomas NHS Foundation Trust, London, United Kingdom. 14. British Rhinological Society (President), London, United Kingdom.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) status of patients with initial sudden olfactory anosmia (ISOA) through nasopharyngeal swabs for reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis and to explore their olfactory dysfunctions with psychophysical olfactory evaluation. METHODS: A total of 78 ISOA patients were recruited from April 6, 2020, to April 10, 2020, through a public call of University of Mons (Mons, Belgium). Patients benefited from nasopharyngeal swabs and fulfilled the patient-reported outcome questionnaire. Among them, 46 patients performed psychophysical olfactory evaluation using olfactory identification testing. Based on the duration of the ISOA, 2 groups of patients were compared: patients with olfactory dysfunction duration ≤12 days (group 1) and those with duration >12 days (group 2). RESULTS: In group 1, 42 patients (87.5%) had a positive viral load determined by RT-PCR and 6 patients (12.5%) were negative. In group 2, 7 patients (23%) had a positive viral load and 23 patients (77%) were negative. The psychophysical olfactory evaluation reported that anosmia and hyposmia occurred in 24 (52%) and 11 (24%) patients, respectively. Eleven patients were normosmic. The viral load was significantly higher in patients of group 1 compared with those of group 2. CONCLUSIONS: Coronavirus disease 2019 was detected in a high proportion of ISOA patients, especially over the first 12 days of olfactory dysfunction. Anosmia is an important symptom to consider in the detection of COVID-19 infection.
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) status of patients with initial sudden olfactory anosmia (ISOA) through nasopharyngeal swabs for reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis and to explore their olfactory dysfunctions with psychophysical olfactory evaluation. METHODS: A total of 78 ISOA patients were recruited from April 6, 2020, to April 10, 2020, through a public call of University of Mons (Mons, Belgium). Patients benefited from nasopharyngeal swabs and fulfilled the patient-reported outcome questionnaire. Among them, 46 patients performed psychophysical olfactory evaluation using olfactory identification testing. Based on the duration of the ISOA, 2 groups of patients were compared: patients with olfactory dysfunction duration ≤12 days (group 1) and those with duration >12 days (group 2). RESULTS: In group 1, 42 patients (87.5%) had a positive viral load determined by RT-PCR and 6 patients (12.5%) were negative. In group 2, 7 patients (23%) had a positive viral load and 23 patients (77%) were negative. The psychophysical olfactory evaluation reported that anosmia and hyposmia occurred in 24 (52%) and 11 (24%) patients, respectively. Eleven patients were normosmic. The viral load was significantly higher in patients of group 1 compared with those of group 2. CONCLUSIONS: Coronavirus disease 2019 was detected in a high proportion of ISOA patients, especially over the first 12 days of olfactory dysfunction. Anosmia is an important symptom to consider in the detection of COVID-19 infection.
Authors: A Boscutti; G Delvecchio; A Pigoni; G Cereda; V Ciappolino; M Bellani; P Fusar-Poli; P Brambilla Journal: Brain Behav Immun Health Date: 2021-05-18
Authors: Matt Lechner; Jacklyn Liu; Nicholas Counsell; Ngan Hong Ta; John Rocke; Rajesh Anmolsingh; Nicholas Eynon-Lewis; Santdeep Paun; Claire Hopkins; Sadie Khwaja; B Nirmal Kumar; Samuel Jayaraj; Valerie J Lund; Carl Philpott Journal: Clin Otolaryngol Date: 2020-12-21 Impact factor: 2.597
Authors: Jerome R Lechien; Justin Michel; Claire Hopkins; Sven Saussez; Thomas Radulesco; Carlos M Chiesa-Estomba; Luigi A Vaira; Giacomo De Riu; Leigh Sowerby Journal: Laryngoscope Date: 2020-08-11 Impact factor: 2.970