Identifying Olfactory Phenotypes to Differentiate Between COVID-19 Olfactory Dysfunction and Sinonasal Inflammatory Disease.

The objective of this study was to identify specific olfactory phenotypes-patterns of olfactory performance-across distinct cohorts with or without olfactory dysfunction (OD). Adult patients underwent testing via a novel olfactory testing methodology in 1 of 4 groups based on health status: sinonasal inflammatory condition (chronic rhinosinusitis or allergic rhinitis), ≥4 weeks of self-reported OD after resolved COVID-19 infection, Alzheimer's disease, and healthy control. Participants' scores for each scent were normalized on a scale of 0 to 1 relative to their worst and best scores. Agglomerative hierarchal cluster analysis was performed on normalized data for the COVID-19 and sinonasal cohorts. Resulting clusters from the penultimate merger revealed a sensitivity of 81% and specificity of 63% for the detection of patients with COVID-19. These results support that there are olfactory phenotypes that may discriminate COVID-19 OD from sinonasal inflammatory disease. These phenotypes will likely become increasingly leveraged in the workup and treatment of patients with OD.

Biopsychosocial Determinants of Pain Assessment and Management - Medical and Surgical Trainees’ Perspective

IMPACT: Better understanding how clinicians make decisions about pain management, particularly since our prior research has demonstrated that opioids prescribed at discharge is the strongest predictor of opioids taken, is critical to decrease high-risk medication prescribing while preserving high-quality care. OBJECTIVES/GOALS: (1) Identify major biological, psychological, and social determinants of medical and surgical residents’ pain management decisions;(2) Determine salient themes regarding the experience of residents in the management of acute and chronic pain METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: Focus groups of internal medicine and general surgery residents at an academic, tertiary care training hospital located in an urban setting were conducted. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all focus groups were conducted virtually and occurred during required didactic sessions to facilitate participation. All interviews were recorded and transcribed. Two reviewers independently reviewed and coded the data following the principles of constructivist grounded theory. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: 42 residents participated in ten focus groups ranging in size from two to five individuals. Six themes emerged demonstrating salient BPS factors in pain management decisions: (1) patient and clinician expectations determine what is considered normal/acceptable;(2) inability of pain scales to reliably capture patient pain;(3) desire for more objective methods of pain assessment, while simultaneously recognizing that pain is an inherently subjective experience;(4) difficulty in determine when pain is 'real’ or 'legitimate';(5) lack of education and protocols regarding pain management;(6) the importance of engaging other services such as acute pain service or nurse educators in complicated situations. Junior residents often expressed doubt in the appropriateness of their approaches and decisions. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF FINDINGS: Surgical and medical trainees routinely treat pain and may struggle, particularly in the early phases of training, to determine if pain levels are appropriate. There is also a lack of education and/or best practices for assessing and managing pain. These areas represent high-value, clinician-focused targets for future interventions to improve care.

A Systematic Review of the Neuropathologic Findings of Post-Viral Olfactory Dysfunction: Implications and Novel Insight for the COVID-19 Pandemic.

BACKGROUND: Post-viral olfactory dysfunction is a common cause of both short- and long-term smell alteration. The coronavirus pandemic further highlights the importance of post-viral olfactory dysfunction. Currently, a comprehensive review of the neural mechanism underpinning post-viral olfactory dysfunction is lacking. OBJECTIVES: To synthesize the existing primary literature related to olfactory dysfunction secondary to viral infection, detail the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms, highlight relevance for the current COVID-19 pandemic, and identify high impact areas of future research. METHODS: PubMed and Embase were searched to identify studies reporting primary scientific data on post-viral olfactory dysfunction. Results were supplemented by manual searches. Studies were categorized into animal and human studies for final analysis and summary. RESULTS: A total of 38 animal studies and 7 human studies met inclusion criteria and were analyzed. There was significant variability in study design, experimental model, and outcome measured. Viral effects on the olfactory system varies significantly based on viral substrain but generally include damage or alteration in components of the olfactory epithelium and/or the olfactory bulb. CONCLUSIONS: The mechanism of post-viral olfactory dysfunction is highly complex, virus-dependent, and involves a combination of insults at multiple levels of the olfactory pathway. This will have important implications for future diagnostic and therapeutic developments for patients infected with COVID-19.