Investigation of smell and taste function in patients with obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome.

OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the relationship between disease severity and taste and smell functions in patients with obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome. METHODS: A total of 65 patients with recurrent upper airway obstruction during sleep were included. Participants were divided into four groups according to apnoea-hypopnoea index, obtained on polysomnography. Smell and taste tests were performed on these patients. RESULTS: A significant difference was observed between the smell thresholds of the groups for the identification test (p = 0.016). In the taste test, significant differences were observed between the groups in terms of sweet, sour, salty and bitter taste test thresholds (p = 0.029, p = 0.0005, p = 0.001 and p = 0.017, respectively). CONCLUSION: As sleep apnoea severity increased (according to the apnoea-hypopnoea index) in obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome patients, the taste and smell thresholds decreased due to the effect of neuropathy and inflammation in the upper respiratory tract.

Association of accessory sphenoid septa with variations in neighbouring structures.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to examine the relationship of the accessory sphenoidal septum with surrounding vital structures and their variations. METHODS: This cross-sectional retrospective study investigated the prevalence of accessory sphenoidal septa and their relationship with variations in surrounding vital structures in coronal and axial paranasal computed tomography images. RESULTS: Coronal and axial computed tomography images of 347 patients were assessed to evaluate the presence of accessory sphenoidal septa. Accessory sphenoidal septa originated from the internal carotid artery in 47.7 per cent of patients and from the optic nerve in 17.5 per cent. These structures were significantly associated with protrusion of the optic nerve, internal carotid canal or Vidian nerve canal. CONCLUSION: Accessory sphenoidal septa can originate from the internal carotid artery or the optic nerve. Therefore, the presence of an accessory sphenoidal septum indicates an increased risk of surgical complications including internal carotid artery injury and loss of vision due to optic nerve injury.