COVID-19 is the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which first arose in Wuhan, China, in December 2019 and has since been declared a pandemic. The clinical sequelae vary from mild, self-limiting upper respiratory infection symptoms to severe respiratory distress, acute cardiopulmonary arrest and death. Otolaryngologists around the globe have reported a significant number of mild or otherwise asymptomatic patients with COVID-19 presenting with olfactory dysfunction. We present a case of COVID-19 resulting in intensive care unit (ICU) admission, presenting with the initial symptom of disrupted taste and flavour perception prior to respiratory involvement. After 4 days in the ICU and 6 days on the general medicine floor, our patient regained a majority of her sense of smell and was discharged with only lingering dysgeusia. In this paper, we review existing literature and the clinical course of SARS-CoV-2 in relation to the reported symptoms of hyposmia, hypogeusia and dysgeusia.

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Case presentation This is a brief report of a 57-year-old Caucasian female presented with a 4-day history of worsening left ear pain. Her symptoms began with left otalgia and otorrhea which progressed to helical erythema, prompting a visit to the emergency department. She was noted to have erythema of the left auricle and swelling of the left auditory meatus. Our otolaryngology service observed erythema of the auricle with sparing of the lobule. Diagnosis The diagnosis to be otitis externa with perichondritis was established, and we recommended otic ciprofloxacin-hydrocortisone, IV vancomycin, and ciprofloxacin. The patient had marked improvement and was discharged on an oral and otic fluoroquinolone. In this case, the diagnosis of perichondritis was made by a classic physical examination finding: erythema and edema with sparing of the fatty lobule. This key finding helps to distinguish perichondritis from otitis externa.

Arytenoid edema is not a well-described complication of thyroplasty. We report a case of exuberant arytenoid edema following thyroplasty in a 33-year-old female. The diagnosis was made post-operative day 1, the patient was immediately started on a 6-day course of methylprednisone with voice rest. The arytenoid edema completely resolved within 1 week.