Reduced olfactory bulb volume in post-traumatic and post-infectious olfactory dysfunction

The olfactory bulb is a highly plastic structure the volume of which partly reflects the degree of afferent neural activity. In this study, 22 patients with post-infectious olfactory deficit, nine participants with post-traumatic olfactory deficit, and 17 healthy controls underwent magnetic resonance volumetry of the olfactory bulb. Patients presented with significantly smaller olfactory bulb volumes than controls; significant correlations between olfactory function and bulb volume were observed. Patients with parosmia exhibited smaller olfactory bulb volumes than those without parosmia. Findings indicate that smell deficits leading to a reduced sensory input to the olfactory bulb result in structural changes at the level of the bulb. Reduced olfactory bulb volumes may also be considered to be characteristic of parosmia.

[1]  D. Ferriero,et al.  Denervation in the primary olfactory pathway of mice: biochemical and morphological effects. , 1974, Brain research.

[2]  Donald A Wilson,et al.  Olfactory Bulb Mitral-Tufted Cell Plasticity: Odorant-Specific Tuning Reflects Previous Odorant Exposure , 2003, The Journal of Neuroscience.

[3]  Thomas Hummel,et al.  MR evaluation in patients with isolated anosmia since birth or early childhood. , 2002, AJNR. American journal of neuroradiology.

[4]  D. Leopold,et al.  Clinical presentation of qualitative olfactory dysfunction , 2004, European Archives of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology and Head & Neck.

[5]  G. Gheusi,et al.  Olfactory processing in a changing brain. , 2003, Neuroreport.

[6]  Thieme Verlag,et al.  Zur Pathophysiologie der posttraumatischen Riechstörung* , 1996 .

[7]  S. Daniel,et al.  The anterior olfactory nucleus in Parkinson's disease , 1995, Movement disorders : official journal of the Movement Disorder Society.

[8]  D. Korol,et al.  Unilateral naris closure and vascular development in the rat olfactory bulb , 1992, Neuroscience.

[9]  M. Yamagishi,et al.  Olfactory mucosal findings and clinical course in patients with olfactory disorders following upper respiratory viral infection. , 1994, Rhinology.

[10]  A. Hirsch,et al.  Smell and Taste in Health and Disease , 1992 .

[11]  H. Reichmann,et al.  Olfactory bulb volumes in patients with idiopathic Parkinson’s disease   a pilot study , 2005, Journal of Neural Transmission.

[12]  D. Yousem,et al.  Posttraumatic smell loss: relationship of psychophysical tests and volumes of the olfactory bulbs and tracts and the temporal lobes. , 1999, Academic radiology.

[13]  M. B. Austin.  Handbook of olfaction and gustation , 1996 .

[14]  L. Klimek,et al.  Multicenter investigation of 1,036 subjects using a standardized method for the assessment of olfactory function combining tests of odor identification, odor discrimination, and olfactory thresholds , 2000, European Archives of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology.

[15]  D. Moran,et al.  Postviral Olfactory Dysfunction , 1990 .

[16]  Michael Leon,et al.  Olfactory experience modulated apoptosis in the developing olfactory bulb. , 1995, Brain research.

[17]  B. Biacabe,et al.  Sémiologie et étiologie des anosmies: à propos de 306 patients. , 1999 .

[18]  D. Reis,et al.  Olfactory bulb dopamine neurons survive deafferentation-induced loss of tyrosine hydroxylase , 1984, Neuroscience.

[19]  K. Mori,et al.  The olfactory bulb: coding and processing of odor molecule information. , 1999, Science.

[20]  D. Yousem,et al.  Olfactory Bulb and Tract and Temporal Lobe Volumes: Normative Data across Decades a , 1998, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.

[21]  D. Cummings,et al.  Effects of unilateral olfactory deprivation in the developing opossum, Monodelphis domestica. , 1997, Journal of neurobiology.

[22]  Armen Saghatelyan,et al.  Inhibitory Interneurons in the Olfactory Bulb: From Development to Function , 2004, The Neuroscientist : a review journal bringing neurobiology, neurology and psychiatry.

[23]  D. Yousem,et al.  MR evaluation of patients with congenital hyposmia or anosmia. , 1996, AJR. American journal of roentgenology.