Olfactory dysfunction in COVID-19: a marker of good prognosis?

In May 2020, the World Health Organization recognized olfactory dysfunction as a COVID-19 symptom. The presence of hyposmia/anosmia may be a marker of good prognosis in COVID-19. To associate the presence of olfaction disorder to the clinical condition severity in patients with COVID-19. Individuals with the flu syndrome caused by SARS-CoV-2, diagnosed from March to June 2020, were recruited. They were divided into three groups: mild flu syndrome, severe flu syndrome (admitted to hospital wards) and critical illness (admitted to the ICU). Inpatients were interviewed by telephone contact after hospital discharge and their medical records were also evaluated regarding complementary test results. Outpatients answered an electronic questionnaire containing only clinical information. A total of 261 patients participated in the study: 23.75% with mild flu syndrome, 57.85% with severe flu syndrome and 18.40% with critical illness. A total of 66.28% patients with COVID-19 had olfaction disorders. In approximately 56.58% of the individuals the smell alterations lasted between 9 days and 2 months. There was a significantly higher proportion of individuals with olfactory dysfunction in the group with mild flu syndrome than in the severe flu syndrome group (mild × severe - p < 0.001; Odds Ratio = 4.63; 95% CI [1.87-10.86]). This relationship was also maintained between patients with mild flu syndrome and critically-ill patients (mild × critical - p <  0.001; Odds Ratio = 9.28; 95% CI [3.52-25.53]). Olfaction dysfunction was significantly more prevalent in patients with mild flu syndrome in COVID-19. It may be a predictor of a good prognosis for this infection. New population-based studies must be carried out to corroborate these findings. Copyright © 2020 Associação Brasileira de Otorrinolaringologia e Cirurgia Cérvico-Facial. Published by Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved.

Citation

Cindy Vitalino Mendonça, José Arruda Mendes Neto, Fabio Akira Suzuki, Marlon Steffens Orth, Hugo Machado Neto, Sérgio Roberto Nacif. Olfactory dysfunction in COVID-19: a marker of good prognosis? Brazilian journal of otorhinolaryngology. 2022 May-Jun;88(3):439-444

Mesh Tags

PMID: 33441276

search → result