[Observation on the changes in nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients' olfactory before and after radiotherapy]
1ENT & Head and Neck Department of Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital, Guangzhou 510080.
Objective:
Detecting nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients' olfactory before and after radiotherapy for investigating the infection of radiotherapy on these patients' olfactory.
Method:
100 NPC patients' olfactory were detected before the start of radiotherapy and after the termination of therapy in 3, 6, 12, 24 and 36 months.
Result:
Patients' smell acuity decreased sharply 3 months after therapy, but varying degrees of recovery were noted in 6 and 12 months. However their smell acuity became worse in the following time.
Conclusion:
NPC patients' smell acuity can be profoundly affected by radiotherapy. And after radiotherapy, their smell acuity will decrease wave-likely and cannot fully recover.
