Olfactory abnormalities in temporal lobe epilepsy

We studied olfactory function in a cohort of 25 temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) patients and 25 healthy controls. Our objectives were to measure olfactory acuity in patients with right, left or bilateral TLE and compare them with age and sex matched controls, and to correlate olfactory acuity with duration of seizure, baseline seizure control and the number of drugs used. Olfactory impairment is common in neurological disorders and dysfunction of the temporo-limbic neural substrates involved in olfactory perception is noted in TLE. We measured olfactory acuity in 25 patients with TLE, nine with right, 10 with left and six with bilateral temporal lobe seizure activity, and compared them to the controls. Odor identification was assessed using the University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test (UPSIT) which is a 40 item olfactory test used to diagnose olfactory deficits. Our results showed that patients with TLE exhibited significant impairment in UPSIT performance compared to the controls. There was no significant difference in scores between the right and left TLE patients. The severity of olfactory impairment did not correlate with the duration of seizures, baseline seizure control and number of drugs used. We concluded that significant olfactory impairment is seen in both right and left TLE patients, unrelated to the duration and baseline frequency of seizures or drugs used.