Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, National Medical Center, Seoul, Korea.
Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
J Korean Med Sci. 2024 Nov 25;39(45):e321. doi: 10.3346/jkms.2024.39.e321.
Olfactory dysfunction is a frequently encountered sensory disorder that increases with aging, assessed magnetic resonance imaging (MRI); however, reference quantitative values for associated anatomical structures have rarely been suggested. The aim of this study was to assess the parameters of the olfactory bulbs (OBs) and olfactory sulcus (OS) in Korean adults according to age, along with their olfactory function.
We retrospectively evaluated 217 consecutive patients (104 men, 113 women; mean age, 52.4 ± 15.6 years) who underwent sellar MRI and olfactory function testing before transsphenoidal approach at a single tertiary center from March 2022 to December 2023. Based on the T2-weighted MRI, we evaluated the quantitative size parameters and morphological features of patients' OB and OS, along with their olfactory function test scores. We assessed the relationship between OB volume and age in pairwise correlations.
The mean OB volume was 45.6 ± 15.3 mm³ in all patients. The patients' mean Korean version of the Sniffin' Sticks (KVSS) test II score was 26.8 ± 4.1. OB volume ( < 0.001), height ( < 0.001), and anteroposterior diameter (APD) ( < 0.001) differed significantly among the different age groups. Reduced OB volume was significantly associated with aging ( = -0.58, < 0.001) and a decline in olfactory function scores ( = 0.34, < 0.001).
Based on MRI, we proposed reference OB and OS values in adults of different age groups, highlighting the reduction in OB parameters, especially height and APD along with volume associated with aging and olfactory decline. These values can be useful for evaluating adult patients undergoing MRI for olfactory dysfunction.
嗅觉功能障碍是一种常见的感觉障碍，随着年龄的增长而增加，可通过磁共振成像（MRI）评估；然而，很少有关于相关解剖结构的参考定量值的报道。本研究旨在根据年龄评估韩国成年人的嗅球（OB）和嗅沟（OS）的参数及其嗅觉功能。
我们回顾性评估了 217 名连续患者（104 名男性，113 名女性；平均年龄 52.4±15.6 岁），他们于 2022 年 3 月至 2023 年 12 月在一家三级中心接受了经蝶窦入路前行鞍区 MRI 和嗅觉功能测试。基于 T2 加权 MRI，我们评估了患者 OB 和 OS 的定量大小参数和形态特征及其嗅觉功能测试评分。我们评估了 OB 体积与年龄之间的相关性。
所有患者的平均 OB 体积为 45.6±15.3mm³。患者的平均韩国版嗅棒（KVSS）测试 II 得分为 26.8±4.1。OB 体积（<0.001）、高度（<0.001）和前后直径（APD）（<0.001）在不同年龄组之间差异显著。OB 体积减少与年龄增长显著相关（=-0.58，<0.001），且与嗅觉功能评分下降相关（=0.34，<0.001）。
基于 MRI，我们提出了不同年龄组成人 OB 和 OS 的参考值，突出了 OB 参数的减少，尤其是高度和 APD 以及与年龄增长和嗅觉下降相关的体积减少。这些值对于评估接受 MRI 检查以评估嗅觉功能障碍的成年患者可能有用。
