The aim of the study was to assess the efficacy and safety of nasal aqueous beclomethasone dipropionate (BDP), 400 µg/day, given via a metered pump in a oncedaily or twice-daily regimen following a double-blind, parallel group design over a 12-week period. Adult patients (n=112) with allergic or non-allergic chronic rhinosinusitis recorded their nasal and ocular symptoms for the 7-day run-in period and for the first 4 weeks of treatment. At baseline and after 4 weeks the airways' resistance via active anterior rhinomanometry and the volume and area section via acoustic rhinometry were measured. Morning serum cortisol was measured at baseline and at week 12. Adverse events were to be reported at each visit. Of the 112 randomised patients, three did not enter the ITT analysis and another 13 in total discontinued the treatment. Significant improvements over the baseline were reported in both groups for the primary variable sum of nasal scores (-53.7% in the once-daily group and -59.7 in the twicedaily group), as well as for each nasal and ocular symptoms, without differences between the groups. Because of a wider variability than expected, the 95% confidence interval (C.I.) for the difference between the least square means exceeded the pre-defined limit of ±10% of the reference mean. Similar improvements in both groups were also reported for the nasal airway patency's parameters. The total number of drug-related adverse events was 26 in the once-daily group and 32 in the twice-daily group, with most of the events consisting of local effects at the site of application. No signs of adrenal suppression were ob-served, and serum morning cortisol values did not significantly change. The once-daily BDP dosing (400 µg/day) therefore has a similar efficacy and safety profile as the same daily dose given in a twice-daily regimen.

No abstract

Clinically, taste disorders are less frequent than smell disorders. Nevertheless, they are very distressing to the concerned patients. Unfortunately, the underlying causes are not always found and a majority of patients are considered idiopathic dysgeusia cases. Besides this taste disorder of unknown origin, medication side effects and surgical injuries are the most frequent origins of dysgeusia. Despite recent, impressive molecular biological and physiological insight into the taste system, few clinical improvements have been achieved. Consequently, curative treatment options remain sparse.

Background: There is growing awareness that severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection can include long-term neuropsychological deficits, even in its mild or moderate respiratory forms. Methods: Standardized neuropsychological, psychiatric, neurological and olfactory tests were administered to 45 patients (categorized according to the severity of their respiratory symptoms during the acute phase) 236.51 (SD: 22.54) days post-discharge following SARS-CoV-2 infection. Results: Deficits were found in all the domains of cognition and the prevalence of psychiatric symptoms was also high in the three groups. The severe performed more poorly on long-term episodic memory and exhibited greater anosognosia. The moderate had poorer emotion recognition, which was positively correlated with persistent olfactory dysfunction. The mild were more stressed, anxious and depressed. Conclusion: The data support the hypothesis that the virus targets the central nervous system (and notably the limbic system), and support the notion of different neuropsychological phenotypes.