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ESSENTIALS OF DIAGNOSIS
History of olfactory loss, often manifesting as loss of the sense of taste.
Sensory evaluation with quantitative tests indicating olfactory loss.
May be the presenting symptoms of Parkinson and Alzheimer disease.
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General Considerations
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The sense of smell determines the flavor and palatability of food and drink. Along with the trigeminal system, it serves as a monitor of inhaled chemicals, including dangerous substances such as natural gas and smoke, and odors common to everyday life. The loss of smell or a decreased ability to smell affects approximately 13.5% of the general population. Smell dysfunction is more common in the elderly with more than 50% reporting loss of smell between the age of 65 to 80 years, and 75% over the age of 80 years.
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Abnormalities of olfaction include the following: (1) anosmia (absence of the sense of smell); (2) hyposmia (diminished olfactory sensitivity); (3) dysosmia (distorted sense of smell); (4) phantosmia (perception of an odorant when none is present); and (5) agnosia (inability to classify, contrast, or identify odor sensations verbally, even though the ability to distinguish between odorants may be normal).
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Disorders of the sense of smell are caused by conditions that interfere with the access of the odorant to the olfactory neuroepithelium (transport loss), injure the receptor region (sensory loss), or damage the central olfactory pathways (neural loss). Table 10–1 summarizes the most common causes of olfactory dysfunction.
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A. Transport Olfactory Loss
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Transport olfactory loss can result from the following conditions: a swollen nasal mucous membrane in acute viral upper respiratory infections; bacterial rhinitis and sinusitis; allergic rhinitis; and structural changes in the nasal cavity (eg, deviations of the nasal septum, polyps, and neoplasms). It is also likely that abnormalities of mucus secretion, in which the olfactory cilia are immersed, could result in a loss of olfactory sensitivity.
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B. Sensory Olfactory Loss
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Sensory olfactory loss results from damage to the olfactory neuroepithelium by any of the following causes: viral infections, neoplasms, the inhalation of toxic chemicals, drugs that affect cell turnover, and radiation therapy to the head.
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C. Neural Olfactory Loss
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Neural olfactory loss can ...