Persisting olfactory dysfunction in post-COVID-19 is associated with gustatory impairment: Results from chemosensitive testing eight months after the acute infection.
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| Abstract | :  Olfactory and gustatory disorders are prominent symptoms of acute COVID-19. Although both senses recover in many patients within weeks to months, persistency has been described in up to 60%. However up to now most reports on the course of chemosensitive disorders after COVID-19 are not based on psychophysical testing but only on subjective patients' ratings. In this study we assessed both olfaction and gustation using psychophysical tests eight months after COVID-19. Validated psychophysical testing revealed hyposmia in 18% and hypogeusia in even 32% of 303 included patients. This shows that olfactory and especially gustatory disorders have to be seen as important chronic symptoms post-COVID-19. The high prevalence of gustatory dysfunction indicates that gustatory function does not recover or might even deteriorate in the months following the acute infection. | 
| Year of Publication | :  0 | 
| Journal | :  PloS one | 
| Volume | :  17 | 
| Issue | :  3 | 
| Number of Pages | :  e0265686 | 
| Date Published | :  2022 | 
| URL | :  https://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0265686 | 
| DOI | :  10.1371/journal.pone.0265686 | 
| Short Title | :  PLoS One | 
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