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Updated: Oct 25, 2025

A Free-breathing fMRI Method to Study Human Olfactory Function
Published on: July 30, 2017
Patients with COVID-19-associated olfactory impairment also show impaired trigeminal function
Martin Sylvester Otte1, Marie-Luise Bork1, Philipp Heinrich Zimmermann1
1Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University of Cologne, Medical Faculty, Cologne 50924, Germany.
Objective:
Next to olfactory function, the nose can also perceive chemestetic sensations mediated by the trigeminal nerve. While olfactory dysfunction as a symptom of COVID-19 is well described, there has been little research on the limitation of other nasal sensory inputs due to SARS-CoV-2 infection. The aim of this study was to determine possible limitations of nasal chemesthesis after COVID-19 infection by a psychophysiological diagnostic tool.
Methods:
In 65 patients with a PCR-confirmed, former COVID-19 disease, olfaction was tested by means of a sniffin' sticks test, tasting by taste sprays and chemesthesis with a menthol dilution series. The subjective self-assessment of the patients was recorded via a questionnaire.
Results:
We found a restriction of nasal chemesthesis and the extent correlated with the loss of smell, as well as with the values of the taste score, but not with subjective self-assessment.
Conclusion:
Not only the ability to smell and taste, but also nasal chemesthesis is affected by COVID-19.
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