Anosmia – a prominent symptom of COVID-19, is also a common symptom of acute colds of various origins. However, anosmia is the main rhinological symptom of COVID-19 infection and is usually not associated with other rhinological symptoms, such as – rhinorrhea or nasal obstruction.

A new study published in Rhinology objectively assessed and compared olfactory and gustatory functions in 10 COVID-19 patients – PCR diagnosed, assessed on an average oftwo weeks after infection; 10 acute cold patients – assessed before the COVID-19 outbreak; and 10 healthy controls, matched for age and sex.

Here, smell performance was assessed using the extended "Sniffin Sticks" test battery while taste function was assessed using "taste strips".

The findings revealed that mechanisms of COVID-19 related olfactory dysfunction are different from those seen in acute cold and may reflect, a specific involvement at the central nervous system level in some COVID-19 patients.

It was inferred that future studies to assess the prevalence of persistent anosmia and neuroanatomical changes on MRI correlated to chemosensory functionwill be useful to understand these mechanisms.

Source: Rhinology. 2020 Dec 1;58(6):623-625. doi: 10.4193/Rhin20.251.