Safety and efficacy of superior turbinate biopsies as a source of olfactory epithelium appropriate for morphological analysis

Biopsy of the olfactory epithelium from the superior nasal septum: is it possible to obtain neurons without damaging olfaction?

“…The safety of the OE biopsy from the superior septum was compatible with our previous study done with specimens from the superior turbinate. 19 Our findings were also analogous to other studies that measured bilateral and unilateral smell ability after nasal septum biopsies to obtain OE. 11 , 21 Importantly, our research was the first to demonstrate the maintenance of individual smell capacities from each nasal cavity.…”

“… 9 , 12 , 21 When only immunohistochemistry is used, the rate of obtaining olfactory epithelium seems to be around 20% higher. 11 , 19 It is likely that the additional steps necessary for immunofluorescence processing results in compromising more the relatively small amount of tissue that is collected. This idea is supported by our finding of nerve bundles in most of the samples (90.9%) regardless of the presence of OE in many cases.…”

“…For this reason, it is important to evaluate whether biopsy procedures compromise the ability to smell any of a range of odorants. It was previously found that OE biopsies from the superior turbinate 19 did not compromise subjects’ ability to smell any specific odorants. Since this region is near the cribriform plate and has the highest concentration of olfactory neurons, 20 presumably it has significant redundancy so that any influences from an operative biopsy procedure would be expected to be minimal or non-existent.…”

A Histochemical Analysis of Neurofibrillary Tangles in Olfactory Epithelium, a Study Based on an Autopsy Case of Juvenile Alzheimer’s Disease

“…However, it is difficult to obtain human OE in vivo . The success rates of OE biopsy ranges from 16 to 100% depending on the technique used and region targeted [ 7 ]. Autopsy data indicate that OE is distributed throughout approximately 30% of the olfactory cleft and gradually replaced by respiratory epithelium with aging.…”

Potential Mechanisms for COVID-19 Induced Anosmia and Dysgeusia

“…Moreover, patients are generally unable to accurately evaluate their sense of taste and smell, making the standardized exams necessary. Several standardized olfactory function tests such as the Connecticut Chemosensory Clinical Research Center (CCCRC) test and the University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test (UPSIT) have been reported in the literature (Doty, 2015 , 2019 ; Baudracco et al, 2020 ; Carvalho et al, 2020 ; Garcia et al, 2020 ; Gurushekar et al, 2020 ). Briefly, the CCCRC test consists of an odor threshold component and an odor identification component, which are combined for a composite score.…”