MRI volumetric analysis of olfaction-related cortex in olfactory dysfunction patients after upper respiratory tract infections / 中华放射学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To measure the volume of olfaction-related cortex in olfactory dysfunction patients after upper respiratory tract infections via MRI,and to analyze the differences in the volume of olfaction-related cortex.Methods Fifteen olfactory dysfunction patients after upper respiratory tract infections (patient group) and fifteen age-and gender-matched normal volunteers (control group) were enrolled in this study to undergo 1.5 Tesla MR scanning.The volumes of olfaction-related cortex,including entorhinal cortex (EC),perirhinal cortex (PRC) and insular cortex (IC),were drawn and computed with Dr.View software.Olfactory function test was performed with the Sniffin' Sticks method which consisted of three testsodor threshold (THR),odor discrimination (DIS),odor identification (ID),and their sum score (TDI).Statistical differences in the volumetric measures of bilateral EC,PRC,and IC between patient and control group were analyzed by analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) with age and intracranial volume (ICV) as covariates.Statistical differences in the olfactory function between patient and control group were analyzed by ANCOVA with age as a covariate.Results (1) The EC volume of patient group in the left and right side were (1.5 ± 0.3),(1.6 ± 0.1) cm3,while the control group were (1.7 ± 0.2),(1.8 ± 0.3) cm3 ; The PRC volume of patient group in the left and right side were (1.9 ± 0.4),(1.9 ± 0.3) cm3,and the control group were (2.5 ± 0.8),(2.3 ± 0.7) cm3 ; The IC volume of patient group in the left and right side were (5.2 ± 0.4),(5.8 ± 0.5) cm3,and the control group were (5.8 ± 0.8),(6.7 ± 0.2) cm3.EC,PRC and IC volumes of patient group and control group were measured and the results showed that the olfaction-related cortex volume was decreased in patient group showing significant statistical difference (F =4.913,4.793,7.832,5.574,9.842,7.221,P ＜ 0.05).(2) Olfactory function test of patient group and control group was performed and the results showed that the scores of patient group were lower than that of control group,and the differences were significant (F =54.508,118.774,93.039,53.692,74.139,53.626,91.842,91.696,P ＜ 0.01).Conclusions It is feasible to measure the volumes of olfaction-related cortex with MRI,and the volumes of EC,PRC and IC decreased in olfactory dysfunction patients after upper respiratory tract infections compared with normal people.