Utility of hyposmia and hypogeusia for the diagnosis of COVID-19

• Published in: The Lancet Infectious Diseases 2020-09, Vol.20 (9), p.1014-1015
• Main Authors: Bénézit, François, Le Turnier, Paul, Declerck, Charles, Paillé, Cécile, Revest, Matthieu, Dubée, Vincent, Tattevin, Pierre, Arvieux, Cédric, Baldeyrou, Marion, Chapplain, Jean-Marc, Comacle, Pauline, Patrat-Delon, Solène, Maillard, Anne, Poinot, Mélanie, Pronier, Charlotte, Souala, Faouzi, Thibault, Vincent, Abgueguen, Pierre, Cormier, Hélène, Delbos, Valérie, de la Chapelle, Marine, Ducancelle, Alexandra, Mahieu, Rafael, Rabier, Valérie, Rehaiem, Sami, Vandamme, Yves, Biron, Charlotte, Brochon, Jeanne, Boutoille, David, Chauveau, Marie, Deschanvres, Colin, Gaborit, Benjamin J, Jenvrin, Joël, Lecomte, Raphaël, Lefebvre, Maeva, Raffi, François
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Ageusia - complications; Ageusia - physiopathology; Betacoronavirus - genetics; Betacoronavirus - isolation & purification; Computed tomography; Coronavirus Infections - complications; Coronavirus Infections - diagnosis; Coronavirus Infections - physiopathology; Coronavirus Infections - virology; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; Diagnosis; Diagnostic software; Diagnostic systems; France; Humans; Infectious diseases; Influenza; Internet; Life Sciences; Olfaction Disorders - complications; Olfaction Disorders - physiopathology; Pandemics; Pneumonia, Viral - complications; Pneumonia, Viral - diagnosis; Pneumonia, Viral - physiopathology; Pneumonia, Viral - virology; Polymerase chain reaction; Questionnaires; Retrospective Studies; SARS-CoV-2; Sensitivity analysis; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Surveys and Questionnaires; Thorax; Viral diseases
• ISSN: 1473-3099; 1474-4457
• DOI: 10.1016/S1473-3099(20)30297-8

[...]the definite diagnosis of COVID-19 mostly relies on positive RT-PCR on respiratory samples, although discriminant features have been reported on thoracic CT scan.1 However, access to these diagnostic tests is limited in the context of this large-scale pandemic. [...]the sample size was small and the response rate suboptimal. [...]as the diagnosis relied on detection of SARS-CoV-2 by RT-PCR on nasopharyngeal samples, suboptimal sensitivity of this test (as low as 60% in some reports) might have led to misclassification and diagnostic bias.7 However, this preliminary report of an association between hypogeusia or hyposmia and COVID-19 diagnosis in patients with ILI suggests that these symptoms might be a useful tool for initial diagnostic work-up in patients with suspected COVID-19.