Otorhinolaryngological manifestations of coronavirus disease 2019: a prospective review of 600 patients

Abstract

Objectives To evaluate otorhinolaryngological manifestations of coronavirus disease 2019 infection and the time required for their resolution. Methods A prospective analysis was conducted of coronavirus disease 2019 patients presenting from 1 April 2020 to 30 July 2020. The otorhinolaryngological manifestations were evaluated based on patient history. The time required for symptom resolution was evaluated separately for intensive care unit and non-intensive care unit patients. Results A total of 600 patients were included in the study; 13.3 per cent required the intensive care unit and 2.2 per cent expired. The otorhinolaryngological manifestations were: sore throat (88 per cent), fever (78.8 per cent), anosmia or hyposmia (63.6 per cent), ageusia or hypogeusia (63.5 per cent), rhinorrhoea (51.3 per cent), nasal obstruction (33.5 per cent), sneezing (30.3 per cent), and breathing difficulty (18.6 per cent). The time required for symptom resolution was longest for breathing difficulty (23.6 days for intensive care unit and 8.2 days for non-intensive care unit patients). Conclusion Otorhinolaryngological symptoms are one of the main presentations of coronavirus disease 2019 infection. The increased prevalence of medical co-morbidities in patients requiring intensive care unit and in deceased patients is also highlighted.

Smell and Taste Disturbance in COVID-19 Patients: A Prospective Multicenteric Review

“…Unlike the present study, Valentina Parma et al [17] further sub divided loss of taste according to different types of taste sensation (sweet, salt, sour and bitter), with 11% having loss of single taste sensation and 48% having loss of 2 or more taste sensation. Subash Bhatta et al [15] in their study of 600 patients with COVID-19 demonstrated smell disturbance in 63.6% and taste disturbance in 63.5% of the patients.…”

“…The COVID-19 targets those cells of the body, which expresses angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE-2) receptors such as; stratified epithelial cells, type II alveolar cells, absorptive enterocytes from ileum and colon, glial cells and neurons, myocardial cells, bladder urothelial cells, proximal tubule cells of the kidney, oral epithelial cells, and nasal epithelial cells [4][5][6][7][8]. As a result, the COVID-19 infection has very diverse presentation such as, fever, sore throat, cough, breathing difficulty, olfactory and gustatory disturbances, headache, diarrhea, myalgia, rhinorrhea, nasal obstruction, fatigue, post nasal drip, and expectoration [9][10][11][12][13][14][15].…”

Study of Hearing Status in COVID-19 Patients: A Multicentered Review

“…Thus, it can be inferred that the symptoms were not severe in most of the patients (88.8%). The previous studies in the literature have not described about the aural symptoms in the COVID-19 patients [ 4 , 16 , 41 , 42 ]. The presence of the aural symptoms can be corelated to the inflammation in the nasopharynx of the patients, resulting in deranged functioning of the eustachian tube.…”

“…The various studies in the literature have described presentation of the COVID-19 infection without any firm evidence suggesting any one of the presentations as the pathognomic for COVID-19 infection [ 3 , 4 , 9 , 10 , 13 – 16 ]. The most commonly encountered presenting features are cough, fever, sore throat, head ache, difficulty in breathing, olfactory and gustatory disturbance, diarrhea, myalgia, nasal obstruction, fatigue, rhinorrhea, expectoration and post nasal drip.…”

COVID-19-related headache and sinonasal inflammation: A longitudinal study analysing the role of acute rhinosinusitis and ICHD-3 classification difficulties in SARS-CoV-2 infection

“…Other studies in similar cohorts of mostly mild and moderate COVID-19 cases showed prevalence of headache in 66–82% subjects, nasal congestion in 34–68%, nasal discharge in 51–60% and hyposmia/anosmia in 55–70% ( 1 , 3 , 32 ). In our study these numbers were similar for headache (72%), but considerably lower for other nasal symptoms: 30% for congestion, 40% for discharge and 42% for smell impairment.…”