Olfactory function in patients with nonsyndromic orofacial clefts and their unaffected relatives

Computational Analysis of Olfactory Airspace in Patients With Unilateral Cleft Lip Nasal Deformity

OBJECTIVES

To evaluate the magnitude of olfactory recess opacity in patients with unilateral cleft lip nasal deformity (uCLND).

DESIGN

Subject-specific 3-dimensional reconstruction of the nasal airway anatomy was created from computed tomography images in 11 (4 males and 7 females) subjects with uCLND and 7 (3 males, and 4 females) normal subjects. The volume and surface area of each subject's unilateral and bilateral olfactory airspace was quantified to assess the impact of opacification. Qualitatively speaking, patients with 75% to 100% olfactory recess opacification were classified as extreme, 50% to 75% as severe, 25% to 50% as moderate, and 0% to 25% as mild.

RESULTS

Of the 11 subjects with uCLND, 5 (45%) were classified as having extreme olfactory recess opacification, 3 (27%) subjects had severe opacification, and 3 (27%) subjects had moderate opacification. Mean (±SD) bilateral olfactory recess volume was significantly greater in normal subjects than in subjects with uCLND (0.9668 cm³ ± 0.4061 cm³ vs 0.3426 cm³ ± 0.1316 cm³; P < .001). Furthermore, unilateral olfactory airspace volumes for the cleft and non-cleft sides in subjects with uCLND were considerably less than unilateral olfactory volume in subjects with normal anatomy (uCLND cleft side = 0.1623 cm³ ± 0.0933 cm³; uCLND non-cleft side = 0.1803 cm³ ± 0.0938 cm³; normal = 0.4834 cm³ ± 0.2328 cm³; P < .001).

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings indicate a high prevalence of olfactory recess opacification among subjects with uCLND when compared to subjects with normal anatomy. The majority of subjects with uCLND had extreme olfactory recess opacity, which will likely influence their sense of smell.