Journal Article

Utility of hyposmia and hypogeusia for the diagnosis of COVID-19

Thibault, Vincent, Biron, Charlotte, Bénézit, François, Declerck, Charles, Cormier, Hélène, Rabier, Valérie, Mahieu, Rafael, Brochon, Jeanne, Arvieux, Cédric, Tattevin, Pierre, de la Chapelle, Marine, Pronier, Charlotte, Souala, Faouzi, Chapplain, Jean-Marc, Lefebvre, Maeva, Boutoille, David, Comacle, Pauline, Ducancelle, Alexandra, Poinot, Mélanie, Jenvrin, Joël, Baldeyrou, Marion, Vandamme, Yves, Paillé, Cécile, Delbos, Valérie, Gaborit, Benjamin J, Revest, Matthieu, Deschanvres, Colin, Lecomte, Raphaël, Dubée, Vincent, Le Turnier, Paul, Raffi, François, Rehaiem, Sami, Chauveau, Marie, Patrat-Delon, Solène, Maillard, Anne, Abgueguen, Pierre

2020

Overview

[...]the definite diagnosis of COVID-19 mostly relies on positive RT-PCR on respiratory samples, although discriminant features have been reported on thoracic CT scan.1 However, access to these diagnostic tests is limited in the context of this large-scale pandemic. [...]the sample size was small and the response rate suboptimal. [...]as the diagnosis relied on detection of SARS-CoV-2 by RT-PCR on nasopharyngeal samples, suboptimal sensitivity of this test (as low as 60% in some reports) might have led to misclassification and diagnostic bias.7 However, this preliminary report of an association between hypogeusia or hyposmia and COVID-19 diagnosis in patients with ILI suggests that these symptoms might be a useful tool for initial diagnostic work-up in patients with suspected COVID-19.

• Publisher: Elsevier Ltd,Elsevier Limited,New York, NY : Elsevier Science ; The Lancet Pub. Group, 2001
• Subject: Ageusia - complications / Ageusia - physiopathology / Betacoronavirus - genetics / Betacoronavirus - isolation & purification / Computed tomography / Coronavirus Infections - complications / Coronavirus Infections - diagnosis / Coronavirus Infections - physiopathology / Coronavirus Infections - virology / Coronaviruses / COVID-19 / Diagnosis / Diagnostic software / Diagnostic systems / France / Humans / Infectious diseases / Influenza / Internet / Life Sciences / Olfaction Disorders - complications / Olfaction Disorders - physiopathology / Pandemics / Pneumonia, Viral - complications / Pneumonia, Viral - diagnosis / Pneumonia, Viral - physiopathology / Pneumonia, Viral - virology / Polymerase chain reaction / Questionnaires / Retrospective Studies / SARS-CoV-2 / Sensitivity analysis / Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 / Surveys and Questionnaires / Thorax / Viral diseases