title: Olfactory dysfunction in patients with head trauma.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  There are few reports about following up olfactory acuity of the patients who have post-traumatic olfactory dysfunction. In this study, we studied about patients with post-traumatic olfactory dysfunction for a short period under a treatment.
  
  
  METHODS
  The olfactory function of 27 patients with head trauma was studied. The olfactory acuities of all the patients were examined using olfactory tests before the treatment, and 18 patients were examined again after the treatment. Olfactory functions were evaluated in 26 patients by T&T olfactometry and in 27 patients by Alinamin test. All of the patients were treated with a local injection of suspended steroid solution into the nasal mucosa [J Otolaryngol Jpn 102 (1999) 1175].
  
  
  RESULTS
  Before the treatment, 16 patients (61.5%) presented anosmia, five patients (19.2%) presented severe hyposmia, three patients (11.5%) presented moderate hyposmia, and two patients (7.7%) presented mild hyposmia. Eighteen cases (69.2%) were negative for the Alinamin test and eight cases (30.8%) were positive. The improvement rates of recognition and detection thresholds by T&T olfactometry were 35.3 and 23.5%, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Olfactory dysfunction caused by head trauma can be recovered to a limited degree in some cases by the local injection of steroid within the relatively short period from the start of the therapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Hyogo College of Medicine, 1-1 Mukogawa-cho, Nishinomiya, Hyogo 663-8501, Japan. megumi@hyo-med.ac.jp
authors.forename: Megumi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fujii
authors.forename: Keijiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fukazawa
authors.forename: Sadamu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Takayasu
authors.forename: Masafumi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sakagami
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000150:complications*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D000857:Olfaction Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012684:Sensory Thresholds