This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Reply to article  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Citing articles on Web of Science (1)  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in this journal  Topic Collections  • Olfaction and Taste Disorders  • Alert me on articles by topic  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

Elizabeth A. Leon, MD; Frank A. Catalanotto, DMD; John W. Werning, MD, DMD

Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2007;133(1):32-36.

Objective  To characterize orthonasal and retronasal olfactory ability in patients who have had a total laryngectomy (TL).

Design  Prospective psychophysical evaluation of orthonasal and retronasal olfactory function.

Setting  Academic center outpatient clinic.

Patients  Volunteer sample of 36 subjects who underwent laryngectomy 0.5 to 25.0 years after TL (median, 3.5 years) and 36 age-, sex-, and smoking history–matched controls.

Main Outcome Measures  Scores on established psychophysical tests of orthonasal and retronasal olfaction and self-rating scores of smell assessed with a visual analog scale.

Results  Assessment of orthonasal olfactory ability yielded a mean composite score of 4.3 (maximum score, 7) for the TL group and 5.3 for the control group (P = .002). Evaluation of retronasal olfactory ability resulted in a mean score of 11.0 (maximum score, 20) for the TL group vs 14.3 for the control group (P<.001). The mean self-rating scores of smell were 2.9 and 6.6 (maximum score, 10) for the TL and control groups, respectively (P<.001). Self-ratings of smell positively correlated with orthonasal (r_S = 0.42; P<.001) and retronasal (r_S = 0.50; P<.001) olfactory ability.

Conclusions  Laryngectomy is associated with measurable decreases in olfactory function that are also subjectively perceived. Quantification of decrements in orthonasal and retronasal olfactory function can be used to characterize the severity of hyposmia and to assess the potential for, and efficacy of, olfactory rehabilitation. Although self-assessment with a simple visual analog scale successfully identifies many laryngectomy patients who have objective evidence of olfactory dysfunction, further investigation is necessary to evaluate and compare its validity and reliability with other available survey instruments that purport to measure olfaction.

Author Affiliations: Departments of Otolaryngology (Drs Leon and Werning) and Community Dentistry and Behavioral Science (Dr Catalanotto), University of Florida, Gainesville.

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Diaphragm pacing restores olfaction in tetraplegia
Adler et al.
Eur Respir J 2009;34:365-370.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Good News for Elderly Persons: Olfactory Pleasure Increases at Later Stages of the Life Span
Markovic et al.
Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences 2007;62:1287-1293.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT