In this prospective survey‐based data collection and telemedicine follow‐up study, recently published in the European Journal of Neurology, the authors enrolled 751 patients with COVID-19 with the aim to investigate the patterns of olfactory recovery after COVID-19 infection.
The mean age of patients was 41 ± 13 (range: 18 – 60). There were 477 females and 274 males. There were 621 patients (83%) who subjectively reported a total loss of smell and 130 (17%) a partial loss. After a mean follow‐up of 47±7 days (range: 30–71) from the first consultation, 277 (37%) of patients still reported a persistent subjective loss of smell, 107 (14%) reported partial recovery and 367 (49%) reported complete recovery. The mean duration of olfactory dysfunction was 10±6 days (range: 3–31) in those patients who completely recovered and 12±8 days (range: 7–35) in those patients who partially recovered. The authors concluded that, according to their results at this relatively early point in the pandemic, knowledge of subjective patterns of recovery of olfactory dysfunction in COVID‐19 patients represents a valuable basis for hypothesis generation and treatment development.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/ene.14440