Smell and Taste Clinic, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University of Dresden Medical School, Fetscherstr. 74, 01307 Dresden, Germany.
J Neurol. 2010 Jun;257(6):959-63. doi: 10.1007/s00415-009-5445-3. Epub 2010 Jan 3.
It is estimated that 15% of normosmic subjects demonstrate lateralized smell loss. The majority of individuals will not notice this difference between nostrils as long as olfactory function of the better nostril remains in the normal range. We were interested in the question whether subjects demonstrating clinically significant side differences of olfactory function are at risk to develop bilateral olfactory loss. Normosmic individuals with such side differences ("difference group", n = 35) were re-tested on average 4.6 years after baseline investigations. Additionally, 58 subjects who did not demonstrate side differences ("control group") were also re-investigated. All participants received detailed olfactory testing using the "Sniffin' Sticks" involving tests for odor threshold, odor discrimination, and odor identification. Olfactory testing at follow-up indicated lower olfactory function (p = 0.005) in the "difference group" than in the "control group". The degree of side difference at baseline correlated negatively with the results from olfactory testing at follow-up (r = -0.29; p = 0.01). These results suggest that individuals with side differences of olfactory function are at risk to develop bilateral olfactory loss within 4.5 years. Thus, the degree of lateralized smell function is an indicator for future smell loss.
据估计，15%的非嗅觉障碍者表现出单侧嗅觉丧失。只要较好侧鼻腔的嗅觉功能仍在正常范围内，大多数人不会注意到两个鼻腔之间的这种差异。我们感兴趣的问题是，表现出临床显著嗅觉功能侧别差异的受试者是否有发生双侧嗅觉丧失的风险。具有这种侧别差异的非嗅觉障碍者（“差异组”，n = 35）在基线调查后平均 4.6 年再次接受测试。此外，还对 58 名未表现出侧别差异的受试者（“对照组”）进行了重新调查。所有参与者都使用“Sniffin' Sticks”进行了详细的嗅觉测试，包括嗅觉阈值、嗅觉辨别和嗅觉识别测试。随访时的嗅觉测试表明，“差异组”的嗅觉功能（p = 0.005）低于“对照组”。基线时侧别差异的程度与随访时的嗅觉测试结果呈负相关（r = -0.29；p = 0.01）。这些结果表明，嗅觉功能侧别差异的个体在 4.5 年内有发生双侧嗅觉丧失的风险。因此，侧化嗅觉功能的程度是未来嗅觉丧失的一个指标。
