• Home
  • Practice Focus
    • Facial Plastic/Reconstructive
    • Head and Neck
    • Laryngology
    • Otology/Neurotology
    • Pediatric
    • Rhinology
    • Sleep Medicine
    • How I Do It
    • TRIO Best Practices
  • Business of Medicine
    • Health Policy
    • Legal Matters
    • Practice Management
    • Tech Talk
    • AI
  • Literature Reviews
    • Facial Plastic/Reconstructive
    • Head and Neck
    • Laryngology
    • Otology/Neurotology
    • Pediatric
    • Rhinology
    • Sleep Medicine
  • Career
    • Medical Education
    • Professional Development
    • Resident Focus
  • ENT Perspectives
    • ENT Expressions
    • Everyday Ethics
    • From TRIO
    • The Great Debate
    • Letter From the Editor
    • Rx: Wellness
    • The Voice
    • Viewpoint
  • TRIO Resources
    • Triological Society
    • The Laryngoscope
    • Laryngoscope Investigative Otolaryngology
    • TRIO Combined Sections Meetings
    • COSM
    • Related Otolaryngology Events
  • Search

Retronasal Olfactory Test May Differentiate Normosmic and Hyposmic Patients

by Linda Kossoff • July 20, 2021

  • Tweet
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
Print-Friendly Version

How do newly generated data of retronasal olfactory threshold values for normosmic and hyposmic individuals hold up after the discriminative power for normosmic/hyposmic differentiation is determined?

BOTTOM LINE

You Might Also Like

  • Olfactory Recovery Is Possible Following Post-Infectious Olfactory Loss
  • Chinese Herbal Medicine Added to Olfactory Training Confers Limited Functional Benefit to Patients with Traumatic Anosmia
  • Higher Olfactory Performance Associated with Self- Perceived Olfactory Function
  • Olfactory Training Creates Gray Matter Changes in Patients with Hyposmia
Explore This Issue
July 2021

The retronasal olfactory test, a psychophysical odor test performed using an orally presented stimulus, can be used to differentiate normosmic and hyposmic cases.

BACKGROUND: Odor stimuli travel via the orthonasal pathway (inspiratory air through nostrils) and retronasal pathway (active factors in the oral cavity). The lowest odorant amount needed for an olfactory receptor response is the olfactory threshold. Decreases in sense of smell affect orthonasal and retronasal odor thresholds and are used to diagnose olfactory loss.

STUDY DESIGN: Prospective, descriptive, and methodological study.

SETTING: Department of Otolaryngology, Dokuz Eylül University School of Medicine, Izmir, Turkey.

SYNOPSIS: Researchers evaluated the orthonasal olfactory function of 20 normosmic (nine women, 11 men, mean age 26.25) and 20 hyposmic (13 women, seven men, mean age 35.15) patients using the Sniffin’ Sticks test, and recorded odor threshold, discrimination, and identification values and threshold discrimination identification (TDI) scores. To determine cutoff values, they administered a 13-item test battery for retronasal olfactory threshold using a solution of 2:1 diluted phenylethyl alcohol (PEA). The retronasal olfactory threshold was determined as four consecutive correct answers. The researchers then compared test threshold, discrimination, identification, TDI scores, and retronasal threshold values of normosmic cases and hyposmic cases and found normosmic group scores to be significantly higher after controlling for age. Results showed that the retronasal olfaction thresholds of PEA can successfully distinguish the normosmic and hyposmic individuals at a cutoff value of 8.5, with sensitivity and specificity values of 95% and 100%, respectively. Authors concluded that this test can be used to successfully differentiate normosmic and hyposmic cases. Study limitations included potential altering effects of patients’ tongue movements during the protocol, and taste limitations of PEA in an aqueous solution.

CITATION: Özay H, Çetin AC, Ecevit MC. Determination of retronasal olfactory threshold values. Laryngoscope. 2021; 131:1608-1614

Filed Under: Literature Reviews, Rhinology, Rhinology Tagged With: hyposmia, treatmentIssue: July 2021

You Might Also Like:

  • Olfactory Recovery Is Possible Following Post-Infectious Olfactory Loss
  • Chinese Herbal Medicine Added to Olfactory Training Confers Limited Functional Benefit to Patients with Traumatic Anosmia
  • Higher Olfactory Performance Associated with Self- Perceived Olfactory Function
  • Olfactory Training Creates Gray Matter Changes in Patients with Hyposmia

The Triological SocietyENTtoday is a publication of The Triological Society.

Polls

Do you use AI-powered scribes for documentation?

View Results

Loading ... Loading ...
  • Polls Archive

Top Articles for Residents

  • Applications Open for Resident Members of ENTtoday Edit Board
  • How To Provide Helpful Feedback To Residents
  • Call for Resident Bowl Questions
  • New Standardized Otolaryngology Curriculum Launching July 1 Should Be Valuable Resource For Physicians Around The World
  • Do Training Programs Give Otolaryngology Residents the Necessary Tools to Do Productive Research?
  • Popular this Week
  • Most Popular
  • Most Recent
    • How to: Positioning for Middle Cranial Fossa Repair of Superior Semicircular Canal Dehiscence

    • The Dramatic Rise in Tongue Tie and Lip Tie Treatment

    • Rating Laryngopharyngeal Reflux Severity: How Do Two Common Instruments Compare?

    • Otolaryngologists Are Still Debating the Effectiveness of Tongue Tie Treatment

    • Endoscopic Ear Surgery: Advancements and Adoption Challenges 

    • The Dramatic Rise in Tongue Tie and Lip Tie Treatment

    • Rating Laryngopharyngeal Reflux Severity: How Do Two Common Instruments Compare?

    • Is Middle Ear Pressure Affected by Continuous Positive Airway Pressure Use?

    • Otolaryngologists Are Still Debating the Effectiveness of Tongue Tie Treatment

    • Complications for When Physicians Change a Maiden Name

    • The Importance of Time Away
    • Endoscopic Ear Surgery: Advancements and Adoption Challenges 
    • Reflections from a Past President of the Triological Society
    • ENT Surgeons Explore the Benefits and Challenges of AI-Powered Scribes: Revolutionizing Documentation in Healthcare
    • How To: Open Expansion Laryngoplasty for Combined Glottic and Subglottic Stenosis

Follow Us

  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Advertise
  • The Triological Society
  • The Laryngoscope
  • Laryngoscope Investigative Otolaryngology
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Cookies

Wiley

Copyright © 2025 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved, including rights for text and data mining and training of artificial technologies or similar technologies. ISSN 1559-4939