Caminiti Fabrizia, Ciurleo Rosella, Bramanti Placido, Marino Silvia
IRCCS Centro Neurolesi 'Bonino-Pulejo' , Messina , Italy.
Brain Inj. 2013;27(13-14):1715-8. doi: 10.3109/02699052.2013.823667. Epub 2013 Oct 2.
The olfactory loss due to traumatic brain injury is a common clinical condition. The understanding of the cortical areas involved in ability to detect, discriminate and identify the odours is still limited. However, it has been shown that the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) is involved in the discrimination and recognition of odours and in particular the right OFC has a dominant role in the central processing of smell.
This study used the Sniffin' Sticks Test to evaluate olfactory function of a 40-year-old female with persistent post-traumatic anosmia and to have a objective measure method for the follow-up.
A marked decrease in the ability to identify and discriminate odours was found. On the other hand the ability to perceive the odours was little compromised. A cerebral Magnetic Resonance Imaging, performed 10 months after the trauma, showed the presence of a post-traumatic scarring in the right frontal lobe involving the OFC.
In this case of post-traumatic anosmia, the ability to perceive and recognize odours does not seem to be compromised in the same measure. It is postulated that the post-traumatic outcomes, involving areas of multisensory integration such as the OFC, have an important pathogenetic role in the loss of ability to recognize and discriminate odours.
创伤性脑损伤导致的嗅觉丧失是一种常见的临床病症。对于参与检测、辨别和识别气味能力的皮质区域的了解仍然有限。然而，已有研究表明眶额皮质（OFC）参与气味的辨别和识别，特别是右侧眶额皮质在嗅觉的中枢处理中起主导作用。
本研究使用嗅觉棒测试来评估一名40岁患有持续性创伤后嗅觉丧失女性的嗅觉功能，并为随访提供一种客观的测量方法。
发现其识别和辨别气味的能力显著下降。另一方面，感知气味的能力受损较小。创伤后10个月进行的脑部磁共振成像显示右侧额叶存在涉及眶额皮质的创伤后瘢痕形成。
在这种创伤后嗅觉丧失的病例中，感知和识别气味的能力似乎并未受到同等程度的损害。据推测，涉及眶额皮质等多感官整合区域的创伤后结果在识别和辨别气味能力丧失中具有重要的致病作用。
