OLFACTORY (SMELL) PROBLEMS IN PATIENTS WITH ALLERGIC FUNGAL RHINOSINUSITIS

Carl Philpott et al. Olfactory dysfunction in allergic fungal rhinosinusitis. Archives of Otolaryngology, Head, and Neck Surgery 2011;137:694-7. AND
Jens Ponikau et al. The diagnosis and incidence of allergic fungal sinusitis. Mayo Clinic Proceedings 1999;74:877-84.

A major cause of loss of smell involves fungi related chronic rhinosinusitis (nasal congestion). Earlier studies have reported that a majority of patients with rhinosinusitis are allergic to fungi (molds)- a condition known as allergic fungal rhinosinusitis (AFRS). One review of 101 consecutive surgically treated chronic rhinosinusitis patients repotred that 94 (93%) were diagnosed with AFRS. 
Allergic fungal rhinosinusitis is often associated with loss of smell. A study of 52 adults with AFRS reported that 41 (79%) had an abnormally low sense of smell. (Sense of smell was measured by sniffing scent sticks and by a questionnaire). Patients with larger amounts of endoscopic nasal swelling had higher average levels of smell loss.

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