title: Olfactory and executive dysfunctions following orbito-basal lesions in traumatic brain injury.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To study the acute relationship between olfactory function and traumatic brain injury (TBI), cognitive functions and outcome.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sixty-two patients with TBI were evaluated within the first 2 weeks following TBI. The Sniffin'Sticks identification test was used to assess olfaction. A neuropsychological evaluation was carried out to assess attention, verbal fluency, naming, memory, problem-solving and mental flexibility. The extended Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOSE) and the Disability Rating Scale (DRS) were rated at discharge from acute care.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Traumatic lesions located in the basal frontal area resulted in odour identification scores that were significantly lower than when lesions were elsewhere (p < 0.001). A significant positive correlation was shown between odour identification scores and mental flexibility scores (p = 0.004) and patients with hyposmia had worse performances on executive tests measuring problem-solving, verbal fluency and mental flexibility (p < 0.01). Moreover, the odour identification score and the DRS total score were related (p = 0.019).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings add information regarding acute olfactory status following TBI and provide evidence on the importance of assessing olfaction very early post-TBI in order to plan intervention and determine what accident prevention advice will be required for home or work re-integration.
authors.affiliation: Neurology and Neurosurgery Department, McGill University Health Centre , Montreal, Quebec , Canada .
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: de Guise
authors.forename: A Y
authors.initials: AY
authors.lastname: Alturki
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Laguë-Beauvais
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: LeBlanc
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Champoux
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Couturier
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Anderson
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lamoureux
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Marcoux
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Maleki
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Feyz
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Frasnelli
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D023261:Glasgow Outcome Scale; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D000857:Olfaction Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012903:Smell / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Anosmia; cognition; olfaction; orbito-frontal lesion; traumatic brain injury