Background: The first European case series are detecting a very high frequency of chemosensitive disorders in COVID-19 patients, ranging between 19.4% and 88%.Methods: Olfactory and gustatory function was objectively tested in 72 COVID-19 patients treated at University Hospital of Sassari.Results: Overall, 73.6% of the patients reported having or having had chemosensitive disorders. Olfactory assessment showed variable degree hyposmia in 60 cases and anosmia in two patients. Gustatory assessment revealed hypogeusia in 33 cases and complete ageusia in one patient. Statistically significant differences in chemosensitive recovery were detected based on age and distance from the onset of clinical manifestations. Conclusion: Olfactory and gustatory dysfunctions represent common clinical findings in COVID-19 patients. Otolaryngologists and head-neck surgeons must by now keep this diagnostic option in mind when evaluating cases of ageusia and nonspecific anosmia that arose suddenly and are not associated with rhinitis symptoms.

Background: Objective data on chemosensitive disorders during COVID-19 are lacking in the Literature.Methods: Multicenter cohort study that involved four Italian hospitals. Three hundred and forty-five COVID-19 patients underwent objective chemosensitive evaluation.Results: Chemosensitive disorders self-reported by 256 patients (74.2%) but the 30.1% of the 89 patients who did not report dysfunctions proved objectively

Background The long-term recovery rate of chemosensitive functions in coronavirus disease 2019 patients has not yet been determined. Method A multicentre prospective study on 138 coronavirus disease 2019 patients was conducted. Olfactory and gustatory functions were prospectively evaluated for 60 days. Results Within the first 4 days of coronavirus disease 2019, 84.8 per cent of patients had chemosensitive dysfunction that gradually improved over the observation period. The most significant increase in chemosensitive scores occurred in the first 10 days for taste and between 10 and 20 days for smell. At the end of the observation period (60 days after symptom onset), 7.2 per cent of the patients still had severe dysfunctions. The risk of developing a long-lasting disorder becomes significant at 10 days for taste (odds ratio = 40.2, 95 per cent confidence interval = 2.204–733.2, p = 0.013) and 20 days for smell (odds ratio = 58.5, 95 per cent confidence interval = 3.278–1043.5, p = 0.005). Conclusion Chemosensitive disturbances persisted in 7.2 per cent of patients 60 days after clinical onset. Specific therapies should be initiated in patients with severe olfactory and gustatory disturbances 20 days after disease onset.

Background: Chemosensitive disorders are very frequent in the early stages of COVID-19 and in paucisymptomatic cases. These patients are typically placed in home quarantine. This study has the aim of validating a new olfactory and gustatory objective evaluation test in these patients. Methods: Thirty-three home-quarantined COVID-19 patients have undergone a self-administered chemosensitive test the day before the control swab. On this occasion, the patients underwent operator-administered already validated tests. The results were finally compared. Results: The differences between the results of the two tests were not significant for both the olfaction (P =.201) and the taste (P =.180). Conclusion:The olfactory and gustatory evaluation by self-administered test can be considered a valid tool, fundamental for obtaining objective qualitative and quantitative data on the extent of chemosensitive disorders in homequarantined COVID-19 patients.

BACKGROUND: The growing number of COVID-19 patients with long-lasting olfactory disorders makes it necessary to identify effective treatments that enhance the spontaneous recovery of olfactory function. METHODS: Multicentre randomised case-control study that involved 18 patients with COVID-19 related anosmia or severe hyposmia for more than 30 days. Nine patients were prescribed systemic prednisone and nasal irrigation with betamethasone, ambroxol and rinazine for 15 days. The other 9, untreated, patients were used as controls. The olfactory function was evaluated with CCCRC test at 20 and 40 days from the first evaluation. RESULTS: In the control group, a median olfactory score of 20 (IQR 30) was detected at baseline. At the 20-day control there was no significant improvement in olfactory function. The improvement in olfactory performance became significant at the 40-day follow-up compared to baseline scores [60 (IQR 60) versus 20 (IQR 30)]. In the treatment group, patients had a mean olfactory score of 10 (IQR 15) at initial control. At the 20-day control, a significant im-provement in the olfactory scores, compared to the baseline, was detected [70 (IQR 40) versus 10 (IQR 15)]. Olfactory function further improved at 40 days [median score 90 (IQR 50)]. Patients in the treatment group reported significantly higher improvements of the olfactory scores than the controls at both the 20-day [40 (IQR 45) versus 10 (IQR 15)] and 40-day [60 (IQR 40) versus 30 (IQR 25)] evaluations. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the results of this study, the mix of drugs including steroids could represent a useful specific therapy to reduce the prevalence of this long-term morbidity.