Nasal function in COVID-19 patients
Reviewed by Sunil Sharma

This Turkish prospective study compared SNOT-22 outcomes as well as objective assessments of nasal secretion and clearance in 40 patients who tested positive on COVID-19 antigen PCR testing and 40 patients who tested negative. Sinonasal findings were assessed using a self-administered Turkish version of the SNOT-22 questionnaire, the nasal Schirmer test was used to evaluate the amount of nasal secretion, and the saccharin test was used to evaluate nasal clearance. The SNOT-22 results in the COVID-19 positive group were significantly higher than those in the control group (23.3+/-14.5 vs 11.2+/-11.7 respectively, p<0.001). The nasal Schirmer and nasal saccharin tests were significantly higher in the COVID-19 positive group than in the control group. In the COVID-19 positive group 47.5% of patients had nasal obstruction and 40% had rhinorrhoea. These findings support the idea that expression of the SARS-CoV-2 host cell surface receptor is high in the nasal mucosa. The authors conclude that COVID-19 causes increased nasal secretion and prolonged nasal clearance. This suggests that perhaps nasal symptoms, such as nasal obstruction and rhinorrhoea, should be included in the key symptoms associated with COVID-19.

Evaluation of nasal function in patients with Covid-19: nasal secretion, nasal clearance, and SNOT-22 Score.
Baki A, Damlaca S, Yildiz M, et al.
B-ENT
2020;16:148-52.