Publications by authors named "E Schepens"
Objective: while smell training appears to be effective for post viral smell loss, its effectiveness in COVID-19 induced smell loss is currently not well known. Therefore, we aim to investigate the potential effect of smell training on patients with COVID-19 induced smell loss.
Methods: we conducted a case-control study with two comparable cohorts.
Article Synopsis
- The Sniffin' Sticks Test (SST) is a validated method for assessing olfactory function, but its length makes it impractical for clinical use, leading to the development of shorter tests like the SST-12 for screening purposes.
- The study focuses on evaluating the diagnostic accuracy of the SST-12 in detecting olfactory dysfunction in patients who have experienced smell loss after COVID-19.
- Results show the SST-12 has high sensitivity (93.4%) and reasonable specificity (68.2%), indicating its potential utility in identifying smell loss, although careful interpretation of results is needed in clinical practice.
Article Synopsis
- * Objective measures (TDI scores) showed significant improvement over one year, moving from a baseline score of 21.25 to 30.75, indicating a return to normal olfactory function.
- * Alongside improved smell perception, self-reported quality of life and gustatory function also showed notable enhancements, suggesting positive recovery trends for COVID-19 patients with lingering olfactory disorders.
Article Synopsis
- - This study investigates the differences in smell and taste disorders between COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 cases, using extensive data from a Dutch biobank involving over 167,000 participants.
- - The findings show that smell loss is more common and severe in COVID-19 positive individuals, while non-COVID-19 cases mainly report mild symptoms.
- - Interestingly, although COVID-19 related smell and taste loss is more severe, it tends to have a shorter duration compared to non-COVID-19 related disorders.
Objective: to determine if the tumor marker squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCC-Ag) observed over time may contribute to the early detection of recurrence, metastasis, and second primary tumors in the follow-up of patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC).
Study Design: A retrospective analysis of patients with HNSCC and at least one SCC-Ag measurement was conducted. Hazard ratios (HRs) were used to determine the correlation between SCC-Ag and an event.