Characterization, treatment modalities, and self-perceived improvement of post-COVID-19 phantosmia: a case series of eleven patients

Abstract

Background: Loss of smell and taste is one of the early and sensitive symptoms of COVID-19 that usually improves over time. Post-COVID-19 phantosmia, a smell distorted sensation without the presence of odorants, has deleterious and long-lasting effects on the patient's quality of life. We aimed to present our experience with phantosmia. Case presentations: We report a description of a series of eleven cases (age of 29 ± 9 years, and 54.5% females) of post-COVID-19 phantosmia without any other comorbidity, and the effects of combined treatment modalities (olfactory training, nasal irrigation with budesonide and oral prednisolone) on self-perceived improvement in phantosmia. Conclusions: We postulate that the combined 10 days oral prednisolone, smell training, and nasal irrigation for three months improved post-COVID-19 phantosmia assessed as post vs. pre self-perceived improvement, although this was not aimed at as a treatment since it was not compared to untreated controls.