CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Laryngorhinootologie 2022; 101(S 02): S242
DOI: 10.1055/s-0042-1746565
Poster
Infectology / Hygiene: Covid-19

A single center study investigating the olfactory dysfunction of hospitalized patients with PCR-confirmed, active COVID-19 disease

Lara Bußmann
1   Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf, Klinik und Poliklinik für Hals-, Nasen-, und Ohrenheilkunde, Hamburg
,
Tile Nils Bußmann
1   Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf, Klinik und Poliklinik für Hals-, Nasen-, und Ohrenheilkunde, Hamburg
,
Nina Zeller
1   Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf, Klinik und Poliklinik für Hals-, Nasen-, und Ohrenheilkunde, Hamburg
,
Narineh Shrivanian-Klein
1   Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf, Klinik und Poliklinik für Hals-, Nasen-, und Ohrenheilkunde, Hamburg
,
Chia-Jung Busch
1   Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf, Klinik und Poliklinik für Hals-, Nasen-, und Ohrenheilkunde, Hamburg
,
Marylyn Martina Addo
3   Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf, I. Medizinische Klinik und Poliklinik (Gastroenterologie mit Sektionen Infektiologie und Tropenmedizin), Hamburg
,
Robin Kobbe
3   Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf, I. Medizinische Klinik und Poliklinik (Gastroenterologie mit Sektionen Infektiologie und Tropenmedizin), Hamburg
,
Matthias Hans Belau
4   Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf, Institut für Medizinische Biometrie und Epidemiologie, Hamburg
,
Christian Stephan Betz
1   Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf, Klinik und Poliklinik für Hals-, Nasen-, und Ohrenheilkunde, Hamburg
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Background A loss of smell is often the first symptom of a COVID-19 infection. This study examined olfactory dysfunction (OD) of hospitalized COVID-19 patients in a single centre in a cross-sectional and longitudinal fashion.

Methodology 27 hospitalized patients with PCR-confirmed, active COVID-19 disease were included. Olfactory history was taken using a questionnaire. Olfactory function was evaluated with “Sniffin’ Sticks” tests (threshold-, discrimination- and identification test; TDI). Follow-up checks via identification testing were performed every two days during hospitalization, and 4 months after the first test.

Results Looking at the TDI scores, 25 of 27 patients (93%) showed an OD. Of those, 16 patients (64%) reported a subjective normosmia. The assessment of the TDI score subcategories showed that the affected participants performed poor in the discrimination and the threshold tests, whereas the smell identification skills were impeded the least. When looking solely at the identification tests, only 17 of 27 individuals (63%) showed pathologic scores.

Conclusions Olfactory testing reveals a higher rate of affected individuals than subjective evaluation in COVID-19 patients. In addition, a mere testing of the identification abilities seems insufficient to diagnose ODs in these patients. A comprehensive test battery looking at threshold, discrimination and identification skills is recommendable.



Publication History

Article published online:
24 May 2022

© 2022. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial-License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

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