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. 2014 Dec;29(8):762-8.
doi: 10.1177/1533317514539033. Epub 2014 Jun 16.

Odor identification in frontotemporal lobar degeneration subtypes

Hana Magerova  1 , Martin Vyhnalek  2 , Jan Laczo  2 , Ross Andel  3 , Irena Rektorova  4 , Alexandra Kadlecova  5 , Martin Bojar  5 , Jakub Hort  2
Affiliations

Odor identification in frontotemporal lobar degeneration subtypes

Hana Magerova et al. Am J Alzheimers Dis Other Demen. 2014 Dec.

Abstract

Odor identification impairment is a feature of several neurodegenerative disorders. Although neurodegenerative changes in the frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) subtypes involve areas important for olfactory processing, data on olfactory function in these patients are limited. An 18-item, multiple-choice odor identification test developed at our memory clinic, the Motol Hospital smell test, was administered to 9 patients with behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia, 13 patients with the language variants, primary nonfluent aphasia (n = 7) and semantic dementia (n = 6), and 8 patients with progressive supranuclear palsy. Compared to the control group (n = 15), all FTLD subgroups showed significant impairment of odor identification (P < .05). The differences between the FTLD subgroups were not significant. No correlation between odor identification and neuropsychological tests results was found. Our data suggest that odor identification impairment is a symptom common to FTLD syndromes, and it seems to be based on olfactory structure damage rather than cognitive decline.

Keywords: behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia; cognitive status; odor identification; primary nonfluent aphasia; progressive supranuclear palsy; semantic dementia.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Odor identification in frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) subtypes and control group.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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