Quantitative PET findings in patients with posttraumatic anosmia.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate quantitative positron emission tomography (PET) findings, particularly from orbitofrontal cortex, in patients with posttraumatic anosmia.


METHODS
Neuropsychology outpatient clinic and university brain imaging center.


METHODS
Eleven patients with head injury resulting in severe anosmia and 11 controls matched for age. All 11 head-injured patients had their head injuries at least 2 years before involvement in the study.


METHODS
Regional cerebral glucose metabolism was measured with PET.


RESULTS
Quantitative evaluation of PET findings for anosmic patients as a group showed orbitofrontal hypometabolism compared with controls. Decreased activity was also noted in mesial temporal lobe. Activity in subcortical white matter was essentially identical between groups.


CONCLUSIONS
Findings strongly suggest that posttraumatic anosmia is closely associated with hypometabolism in the orbitofrontal cortex and the medial prefrontal cortex. The results also underscore the importance of posttraumatic anosmia as a clinical sign of orbitofrontal damage, as has been shown previously with neuroSPECT (single photon emission computed tomography).
Varney
N R
NR
Psychology Service, VA Medical Center, Iowa City, Iowa 52246-2208, USA.
Pinkston
J B
JB
Wu
J C
JC
D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D006259:Craniocerebral Trauma / Q000145:classification / Q000150:complications*; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000293:injuries; D006801:Humans; D015601:Injury Severity Score; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D000857:Olfaction Disorders / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000209:etiology* / Q000378:metabolism; D016037:Single-Blind Method; D014055:Tomography, Emission-Computed / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards