Acute and chronic sinusitis are major causes of olfactory disturbance. We evaluated 11 patients with olfactory disturbance who underwent endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS) to determine effects on olfactory disturbance.
Before and 3 months after ESS, a standard olfactory acuity test (T & T olfactometry or jet stream olfacyory test) and computed tomography (CT) were conducted to evaluate effects on olfaction. Olfactory improvement was correlated with ESS; effects on sinus pathology and findings of olfactory cleft estimated by CT. Cases showing improvement in both ethmoidal sinus pathology and olfactory cleft space were the highest in olfaction improvement. These results suggest that olfactory disturbance caused by chronic sinusitis is alleviated by removing inflammation around olfactory cleft and in the ethmoidal sinus.