Olfactory and executive dysfunctions following orbito-basal lesions in traumatic brain injury

• Published in: Brain injury Vol. 29; no. 6; p. 730
• Main Authors: de Guise, E, Alturki, A Y, Laguë-Beauvais, M, LeBlanc, J, Champoux, M C, Couturier, C, Anderson, K, Lamoureux, J, Marcoux, J, Maleki, M, Feyz, M, Frasnelli, J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England 01.06.2015
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Brain Injuries - physiopathology; Cognition - physiology; Executive Function - physiology; Female; Glasgow Outcome Scale; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Neuropsychological Tests; Olfaction Disorders - etiology; Olfaction Disorders - physiopathology; Retrospective Studies; Smell - physiology; Anosmia; traumatic brain injury; olfaction; orbito-frontal lesion; cognition
• ISSN: 1362-301X
• DOI: 10.3109/02699052.2015.1004748

To study the acute relationship between olfactory function and traumatic brain injury (TBI), cognitive functions and outcome. Sixty-two patients with TBI were evaluated within the first 2 weeks following TBI. The Sniffin'Sticks identification test was used to assess olfaction. A neuropsychological evaluation was carried out to assess attention, verbal fluency, naming, memory, problem-solving and mental flexibility. The extended Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOSE) and the Disability Rating Scale (DRS) were rated at discharge from acute care. Traumatic lesions located in the basal frontal area resulted in odour identification scores that were significantly lower than when lesions were elsewhere (p < 0.001). A significant positive correlation was shown between odour identification scores and mental flexibility scores (p = 0.004) and patients with hyposmia had worse performances on executive tests measuring problem-solving, verbal fluency and mental flexibility (p < 0.01). Moreover, the odour identification score and the DRS total score were related (p = 0.019). These findings add information regarding acute olfactory status following TBI and provide evidence on the importance of assessing olfaction very early post-TBI in order to plan intervention and determine what accident prevention advice will be required for home or work re-integration.