Luigi Angelo Vaira1,2, Giovanna Deiana2,3, Jerome R Lechien4,5, Andrea De Vito6, Andrea Cossu3, Marco Dettori3, Arcadia Del Rio2,3, Sven Saussez4,5, Giordano Madeddu6, Sergio Babudieri6, Alessandro Giuseppe Fois7, Clementina Cocuzza8, Claire Hopkins9, Giacomo De Riu1, Andrea Fausto Piana2,3. 1. Maxillofacial Surgery Operative Unit, Department of Medical, Surgical and Experimental Sciences, University of Sassari, Italy. 2. Biomedical Science PhD School, Biomedical Science Department, University of Sassari, Italy. 3. Department of Medical, Surgical and Experimental Sciences, University of Sassari, Italy. 4. COVID-19 Task Force of the Young-Otolaryngologists of the International Federation of Oto-rhino-laryngological Societies (YO-IFOS). 5. Department of Human and Experimental Oncology, Faculty of Medicine UMONS Research Institute for Health Sciences and Technology, University of Mons (UMons), Mons, Belgium. 6. Infectious and Tropical Diseases Unit, Department of Medical, Surgical and Experimental Sciences, University of Sassari, Italy. 7. Respiratory Diseases Operative Unit, Department of Medical, Surgical and Experimental Sciences, University of Sassari, Italy. 8. Medicine and Surgery Department, Bicocca University of Milan, Italy. 9. King's College, London, UK.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the correlations between the severity and duration of olfactory dysfunctions (OD), assessed with psychophysical tests, and the viral load on the rhino-pharyngeal swab determined with a direct method, in patients affected by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). METHODS: Patients underwent psychophysical olfactory assessment with Connecticut Chemosensory Clinical Research Center test and determination of the normalized viral load on nasopharyngeal swab within 10 days of the clinical onset of COVID-19. RESULTS: Sixty COVID-19 patients were included in this study. On psychophysical testing 12 patients (20% of the cohort) presented with anosmia, 11 (18.3%) severe hyposmia, 13 (18.3%) moderate hyposmia and 10 (16.7%) mild hyposmia with an overall prevalence of OD of 76.7%. The overall median olfactory score was 50 (IQR 30-72.5) with no significant differences between clinical severity subgroups. The median normalized viral load detected in the series was 2.56E+06 viral copies/106 copies of human beta-2microglobulin mRNA present in the sample (IQR 3.17E+04-1.58E+07) without any significant correlations with COVID-19 severity. The correlation between viral load and olfactory scores at baseline (R2 = 0.0007; p = 0.844) and 60-day follow-up (R2 = 0.0077; p = 0.519) was weak and not significant. CONCLUSIONS: the presence of OD does not seem to be useful in identifying subjects at risk for being super-spreaders nor who is at risk of developing long-term OD. Similarly, the pathogenesis of OD is probably related to individual factors rather than to viral load and activity. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the correlations between the severity and duration of olfactory dysfunctions (OD), assessed with psychophysical tests, and the viral load on the rhino-pharyngeal swab determined with a direct method, in patients affected by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). METHODS:Patients underwent psychophysical olfactory assessment with Connecticut Chemosensory Clinical Research Center test and determination of the normalized viral load on nasopharyngeal swab within 10 days of the clinical onset of COVID-19. RESULTS: Sixty COVID-19patients were included in this study. On psychophysical testing 12 patients (20% of the cohort) presented with anosmia, 11 (18.3%) severe hyposmia, 13 (18.3%) moderate hyposmia and 10 (16.7%) mild hyposmia with an overall prevalence of OD of 76.7%. The overall median olfactory score was 50 (IQR 30-72.5) with no significant differences between clinical severity subgroups. The median normalized viral load detected in the series was 2.56E+06 viral copies/106 copies of humanbeta-2microglobulin mRNA present in the sample (IQR 3.17E+04-1.58E+07) without any significant correlations with COVID-19 severity. The correlation between viral load and olfactory scores at baseline (R2 = 0.0007; p = 0.844) and 60-day follow-up (R2 = 0.0077; p = 0.519) was weak and not significant. CONCLUSIONS: the presence of OD does not seem to be useful in identifying subjects at risk for being super-spreaders nor who is at risk of developing long-term OD. Similarly, the pathogenesis of OD is probably related to individual factors rather than to viral load and activity. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Authors: Ludger Klimek; Jan Hagemann; Julia Döge; Laura Freudelsperger; Mandy Cuevas; Felix Klimek; Thomas Hummel Journal: Allergo J Int Date: 2022-06-20
Authors: Luigi Angelo Vaira; Jerome R Lechien; Giovanni Salzano; Fabio Maglitto; Sven Saussez; Giacomo De Riu Journal: Am J Otolaryngol Date: 2021-12-02 Impact factor: 2.873
Authors: Luigi Angelo Vaira; Claudia Gessa; Giovanna Deiana; Giovanni Salzano; Fabio Maglitto; Jerome R Lechien; Sven Saussez; Pasquale Piombino; Andrea Biglio; Federico Biglioli; Paolo Boscolo-Rizzo; Claire Hopkins; Valentina Parma; Giacomo De Riu Journal: Life (Basel) Date: 2022-01-19
Authors: Luigi A Vaira; Andrea De Vito; Jerome R Lechien; Carlos M Chiesa-Estomba; Miguel Mayo-Yàñez; Christian Calvo-Henrìquez; Sven Saussez; Giordano Madeddu; Sergio Babudieri; Paolo Boscolo-Rizzo; Claire Hopkins; Giacomo De Riu Journal: Laryngoscope Date: 2021-11-26 Impact factor: 3.325