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. 2019 Oct 6;11(10):e5846.
doi: 10.7759/cureus.5846.

Comparison of the Olfactory Bulb Volume and the Olfactory Tract Length Between Patients Diagnosed with Essential Tremor and Healthy Controls: Findings in Favor of Neurodegeneration

Erman Altunisik  1 , Ali H Baykan  2
Affiliations

Comparison of the Olfactory Bulb Volume and the Olfactory Tract Length Between Patients Diagnosed with Essential Tremor and Healthy Controls: Findings in Favor of Neurodegeneration

Erman Altunisik et al. Cureus. .

Abstract

Purpose Essential tremor (ET) is the most common movement disorder. In recent years, an increasing number of studies have shown that this disease also has a variety of non-motor findings and may be of a neurodegenerative nature. This study aimed to evaluate the olfactory bulb volume (OBV) and the olfactory tract length (OTL) and to demonstrate possible neurodegeneration in ET patients using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Methods The study included 30 ET patients (mean age=29.53±11.82 years) and 30 healthy controls (mean age=30.00±11.68 years). In the cranial MRI examination of both groups, the right, left and total OBV values ​​were measured in mm3 and the right and left OTL values ​​were calculated manually in mm. Results There was no significant difference between the patient and control groups in the measured OBV values, but the OTL value of the patient group was statistically significantly lower than the control group. Conclusion Our study showed that the olfactory system might be involved in ET cases. We think that olfactory dysfunction, one of the non-motor symptoms in ET, can be clearly elucidated through both anatomical and functional studies, to be conducted with larger patient groups.

Keywords: essential tremor; magnetic resonance imaging; olfactory bulb volume; olfactory tract length.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Coronal T2-weighted image
Coronal T2-weighted images showing the OBs on both sides with a hypointense ovoid structure (arrow). Note the hyperintense CSF surrounding the OBs. OB: olfactory bulb; CSF: cerebrospinal fluid
Figure 2
Figure 2. Coronal T2-weighted image
Semi-automatic measurement of OBV on the MPR 3D workstation using manual segmentation. To minimize the possibility of errors in volumetric measurements, the images were magnified as much as possible. Both OBs are shown in red and their measured volumes are given underneath in mm3. OB: olfactory bulb, OBV: olfactory bulb volume; MPR: multiplanar reformation; 3D: three-dimensional
Figure 3
Figure 3. Sagittal T1-weighted image
Sagittal T1-weighted image showing the boundaries of the left olfactory tract (arrows). The midsection of the olfactory tract is indicated by an asterisk.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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