title: Intranasal volume and olfactory function.
abstract: The aim of this exploratory study was to identify the volume intranasal segments as they relate to parameters of olfactory function. Fifty healthy male volunteers (age range 22-59 years, mean age 28.5 years) were included. Olfactory function was measured by lateralized phenyl ethyl alcohol odor thresholds and odor discrimination, and by bilateral odor identification. Magnetic resonance imaging of the nasal cavity was performed immediately following olfactometry. To correlate the results of olfactometry with intranasal volume, each nasal cavity was divided into 11 segments. Significant correlations were found between the odor thresholds and volumes of the anterior part of the lower and upper meatus of the right nasal cavity. These results reveal that two nasal segments are important for inter-individual differences of odor thresholds in healthy subjects: (i) the segment in the upper meatus below the cribriform plate and (ii) the anterior segment of the inferior meatus. The latter finding is of special interest for nasal surgery, which allows modification of this volume through resection of the inferior turbinate and/or septoplasty.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University of Cologne, Germany. michael.damm@uni-koeln.de
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Damm
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vent
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schmidt
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Theissen
authors.forename: Hans E
authors.initials: HE
authors.lastname: Eckel
authors.forename: Jörn
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lötsch
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hummel
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008953:Models, Anatomic; D009296:Nasal Cavity / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology*; D009812:Odorants; D010626:Phenylethyl Alcohol / Q000737:chemistry; D025363:Rhinomanometry / Q000379:methods; D012684:Sensory Thresholds / Q000502:physiology; D012903:Smell / Q000502:physiology*; D016008:Statistical Distributions
chemical_list: D010626:Phenylethyl Alcohol