[Improvement of olfactory disturbance by endoscopic endonasal surgery for chronic sinusitis]

Olfactory disturbance is the one of the most important symptoms of chronic sinusitis. In the present study, we followed up the postoperative clinical course of olfactory disturbance in patients who underwent surgery for chronic sinusitis. Ninety patients with severe olfactory disturbance or anosmia who underwent endoscopic endonasal surgery for chronic sinusitis with severe olfactory disturbance or anosmia in the preceding three-year period were enrolled in this study. We obtained a high postoperative improvement rate of 78.8%. We compared and examined our cases' postoperative clinical course concerning their olfactory disturbance and various factors in other patients before and after surgery, and obtained the following results: a) Young patients, 30 years old or under at the time of surgery, showed significantly higher rates of improvement than patients who were 50 years old or more at the time of surgery. b) Even though revision surgery was performed, the improvement rates were almost the same as after the initial surgery. c) Although the Alinamin intravenous olfaction test is regarded as an olfaction threshold test, we have seen quite a few cases in which improvement was achieved despite the absence of a preoperative response to the Alinamin intravenous olfaction test. d) There was no clear correlation between the presence of preoperative lesions of the ethmoid sinus and the olfactory cleft and the improvement rates. e) The cases with unsatisfactory results concerning the paranasal sinuses and nasal cavity--those accompanied by postoperative adhesions of the olfactory cleft, recurrence of polyps, etc.,--showed significantly lower improvement rates than cases with satisfactory postoperative results. During surgery in patients with severe olfactory disturbance, we conclude that it is particularly important to adequately clean the lesions of the olfactory cleft and the anterior and posterior ethmoid sinus endoscopically. This ensures leaving clear the olfactory cleft.