[Olfactory dysfunction: its diagnosis and surgical treatment]

This paper discusses the results of diagnosis and surgical therapy of olfactory dysfunction. It describes a method of qualitative and quantitative olfactometry which involves olfactory investigation by means of an olfactory unit and an olfactometer based on the smelling principle. The olfactory unit and olfactometer permit qualitative and quantitative olfactory measurements. Objective olfactometry was performed in 34 patients using the galvanic skin reflex, olfactory-pupillary reflex (OPR), pneumography, and ECG. The method, developed by the present author for recording pupils responses by means of an optic pupillometer, allows differentiation of olfactory and trigeminal sensitivity during OPR examination. Objective olfactometry demonstrated that olfactory investigation with the aid of a custom built olfactometer gives reliable data. The procedure of endonasal operation of concha nasalis media in the olfactory fissure area in the case of hypertropic rhinitis accompanied by olfactory dysfunction is described.