Patterns and clinical outcomes of olfactory and gustatory disorders in six months: Prospective study of 1031 COVID-19 patients.

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to comprehensively evaluate olfactory and gustatory dysfunctions during the COVID-19 pandemic regarding onset, course, associated symptoms, prognosis and relation to patients' demographics, treatment received and other symptoms. PATIENTS& METHODS: This is a prospective study conducted on patients proven to be infected with COVID-19 and with olfactory/gustatory dysfunction symptoms. Detailed history was taken from each patient about the onset of this dysfunction, associated symptoms. Then follow-up survey was done after 6 months to evaluate the prognosis. RESULTS: 1031 patients were included in the study, aged 18 to 69 years old, with 31.8% were male. Olfactory/gustatory dysfunctions occurred after other COVID-19 symptoms in 43.5% of cases, occurred suddenly in 80.4% and gradually in 19.6%. These dysfunctions were anosmia & ageusia in 50.2%, hyposmia & hypogeusia in 23.3%, anosmia alone in 17.7%, phantosmia in 18%, Parosmia in 28.4%. In terms of recovery 6-month follow up, 680 patients (66%) recovered completely, 22.1% recovered partially while 11.9% did not recover. Most improvement occurred in the first two weeks. Headache, malaise, nasal obstruction and rhinorrhea were the commonest COVID-19 symptoms associated. CONCLUSION: Most recovery of olfactory/gustatory dysfunction in COVID-19 infection occurs at the first two weeks and is unrelated to patient demographics, treatment or olfactory training. Parosmia is an independent predictor for complete recovery, while phantosmia is significantly associated with lower probability of complete recovery.

Congenital auditory meatal atresia: a numerical review.

Congenital auditory meatal atresia (CAMA) is an uncommonly encountered disorder. Though a rare condition, CAMA poses multiple problems for affected children. Recent management of CAMA in developed countries rests on osseo-integrated prostheses and bone-anchored hearing aids. The situation is different in developing countries where aesthetic and otologic surgeries are the available lines of management. Surgical management of CAMA has been staged into reconstructive surgery for auricular deformity followed by external and middle ear reconstruction either via anterior or transmastoid approaches. Multiple case series describing the outcomes and complications of both approaches have been published, but no authors have attempted to compare either. We have attempted to compare the outcomes and complications of both approaches by analyzing published medical articles concerning surgical management of CAMA identified by searching the Medline database using "congenital aural atresia" and "external auditory canal atresia" as keywords. A total of 923 ears were reported by 13 articles included in this study. The transmastoid approach is shown, by multiple linear regression, to have better postoperative hearing gain and less likely restenosis.