Gudziol Volker, Hummel Cornelia, Negoias Simona, Ishimaru Tadashi, Hummel Thomas
Smell and Taste Clinic, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University of Dresden Medical School, Dresden, Germany.
Laryngoscope. 2007 May;117(5):808-11. doi: 10.1097/MLG.0b013e3180330092.
Birhinal testing of odor identification will not allow the detection of unilateral olfactory loss. The aim of the presented study was to evaluate side differences of odor identification in large groups of healthy subjects and in patients with nasal symptoms.
Self-assessment of olfactory function and evaluation of olfactory function by means of a validated test were performed in 479 healthy subjects, in 765 patients with chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS), and in 53 patients with a tumor. A 12-item odor identification test ("Sniffin' Sticks") was used to evaluate olfactory function separately for each nostril.
Fifteen percent of the healthy subjects demonstrated side differences in the identification of at least 3 out of 12 odors. Healthy elderly subjects showed larger side differences in identification of odor than younger ones; a general difference between odor identification with the right or left nostril was not found. Both CRS patients and patients with a tumor had larger side differences than healthy subjects. Only 20% of the patients with a tumor complained about impaired olfactory sensitivity, but more than 75% of them showed deficits in olfactory tests.
Side differences of odor identification of 25% or greater should give reason for further investigation. Future studies are needed to investigate whether side differences in healthy subjects are a predicator of a higher risk for general olfactory loss.
嗅觉识别的双侧测试无法检测出单侧嗅觉丧失。本研究的目的是评估大量健康受试者和有鼻部症状患者在嗅觉识别方面的左右差异。
对479名健康受试者、765名慢性鼻 - 鼻窦炎（CRS）患者和53名肿瘤患者进行了嗅觉功能的自我评估以及通过一项经过验证的测试对嗅觉功能进行评估。使用一项包含12种气味的识别测试（“嗅棒测试”）分别对每个鼻孔的嗅觉功能进行评估。
15%的健康受试者在12种气味中至少有3种气味的识别存在左右差异。健康老年受试者在气味识别方面的左右差异比年轻受试者更大；未发现左右鼻孔在气味识别上存在总体差异。CRS患者和肿瘤患者的左右差异均比健康受试者大。只有20%的肿瘤患者抱怨嗅觉敏感度受损，但超过75%的患者在嗅觉测试中表现出缺陷。
气味识别左右差异达到或超过25%时，应进行进一步调查。未来需要开展研究，以探究健康受试者的左右差异是否是总体嗅觉丧失风险较高的一个预测指标。
