Recovery of olfactory function after nine years of post-traumatic anosmia: a case report.

Journal of Medical Case Reports
Christian A Mueller, T Hummel

Abstract

Olfactory loss due to head trauma is a common condition. Depending on the severity of the head trauma, anosmia might occur in up to 30% of patients. The period of time until recovery has been reported to be a couple of months in most cases. However, recovery from post-traumatic olfactory loss might occur much later. We present a rare case of recovery from anosmia nine years after the initial trauma. We report the case of a 54-year-old Caucasian man who suffered complete anosmia from a severe car accident. Smell function as well as flavor perception during eating and drinking were also completely lost. After nine years, the patient had his first olfactory impressions, with his sense of smell gradually improving over a period of three years. We confirmed recovery of olfactory function using psychophysical and electrophysiological techniques. In most cases, recovery of smell function occurs relatively soon after the head trauma and seems to rarely occur more than two years after the incident. However, patients should be informed that there is a small chance of recovery a long time after the trauma.

References

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Citations

Jul 24, 2013·BMC Ear, Nose, and Throat Disorders·Andreas Keller, Dolores Malaspina
Sep 28, 2013·European Archives of Oto-rhino-laryngology : Official Journal of the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS) : Affiliated with the German Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology - Head and Neck Surgery·Volker GudziolThomas Hummel
Apr 4, 2014·Journal of Neurotrauma·Elizabeth SteuerLeonardo Belluscio
Oct 4, 2013·Brain Injury : [BI]·Fabrizia CaminitiSilvia Marino
May 24, 2016·Surgical Neurology International·Phileas J ProskynitopoulosEkkehard M Kasper
Aug 18, 2017·Brain Injury : [BI]·Lilla BonannoFabrizia Caminiti
May 19, 2021·Neurocase·Robert PellegrinoThomas Hummel

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