Relationship of olfactory function with olfactory bulbus volume, disease duration and Unified Parkinson's disease rating scale scores in patients with early stage of idiopathic Parkinson's disease

J Clin Neurosci. 2013 Jul 16. pii: S0967-5868(13)00109-4. doi: 10.1016/j.jocn.2012.11.017. [Epub ahead of print]

Hakyemez HA, Veyseller B, Ozer F, Ozben S, Bayraktar GI, Gurbuz D, Cetin S, Yildirim YS.

Source

Haseki Training and Research Hospital, Department of Neurology, Istanbul, Turkey.

Abstract

We aimed to investigate the relationship between olfactory function and olfactory bulbus (OB) volume, disease duration and Unified Parkinson's disease rating scale (UPDRS) scores in early stage idiopathic Parkinson's disease patients. The University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test (UPSIT) was used for the evaluation of olfactory function. UPSIT scores for patients with Parkinson's disease were significantly lower than controls. There was no significant difference between stage 1 and stage 2 patients. OB volumes were higher in stage 1 and 2 patients than controls, but there was no statistical difference between the three groups. No significant correlation was found between UPSIT and UPDRS total scores, nor between UPSIT scores and disease duration in stage 1 and 2 patients. According to our results, we propose UPSIT be used as a screening test to diagnose presymptomatic patients, but not OB volumes.