Cranial nerve disorders

Abstract

Patients complaining solely of altered olfaction are encountered infrequently in neurological practice. Transient alteration of smell is common after upper respiratory tract infection but sometimes, though the infection appears banal, the impairment of olfaction persists. A similar, chronic, impairment of smell can follow head injury. Olfactory meningiomas represent less than 10% of all intracranial meningiomas and are, therefore, seldom seen, but typically they present as unilateral or bilateral impairment of smell, eventually leading to anosmia, without, at least initially, evidence of frontal lobe or optic nerve disturbance. CT scanning will detect all such tumours, even at this early stage [1].