Olfactory Dysfunction in Multiple Sclerosis

Abstract

To the Editor: Multiple sclerosis, the most common neurologic disease in young adults, is accompanied by focal demyelinating plaques within the central nervous system, which can be quantified in vivo by using high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Thus, multiple sclerosis may be an excellent model for the study of the influences of focal lesions on some forms of sensory function. Since multiple-sclerosis–related plaques vary in number over time, differ considerably from patient to patient, and often occur in regions of the brain associated with the ability to smell,1 we determined whether the number of multiple-sclerosis–related plaques in olfactory regions correlates . . .