Loss of smell in patients with COVID-19
Michaël Eliezer, Anne-Laurel Hamel, Emmanuel Houdart, Philippe Herman, Juliette Housset, Clément Jourdaine, Corinne Eloit, Benjamin Vérillaud, Charlotte Hautefort
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To 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. METHODS: This 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. RESULTS: = 0.004). CONCLUSION: OFL in SARS-CoV2-infected patients is associated with a reversible obstruction of the OC.