Sensory perception and hypothyroidism

Abstract

Subjective and objective changes in smell and taste perception were evaluated in 16 patients with primary hypothyroidism before and after thyroxine (T4) replacement and in 17 control subjects. Visual evoked responses (VER) and brainstem auditory evoked responses (BAER) were measured in 15 patients. Although 11 of the patients reported subjective alterations in smell and taste and eight of these reported resolution or improvement with euthyroidism, no improvement was found using objective measures (mean follow-up 6.4 months) in smell, taste or flavour perception or in visual and auditory brainstem evoked responses