Background: It has been noted that olfactory and gustatory disturbances may precede or accompany the typical features of COVID-19, such as fever and cough. Hence, a high index of suspicion is required when patients report sudden loss of smell or taste, in order to facilitate timely diagnosis and isolation. Aims/objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the frequency of olfactory and gustatory disturbances in COVID-19 positive patients from a cohort representative of Melbourne, Australia. Methods: A retrospective descriptive study was conducted on patients who tested positive for COVID-19. Standardised phone consultations and online follow-up questionnaires were performed to assess clinical features of COVID-19, with a focus on smell and taste disorders. Results: The most frequent symptoms experienced were taste and smell disturbances with 74% experiencing either smell or taste disturbance or both. Post-recovery, 34% of patients continued to experience ongoing hyposmia and 2% anosmia, whereas 28% continued to suffer from hypogeusia or ageusia. Conclusion and significance: This study presents the high rates of improvement of both olfactory and gustatory disturbance in a short-lived period. It also highlights the importance of these symptoms in prompting appropriate testing, quarantine precautions, initiate early olfactory retraining and the potential for continued sensory disturbance.

Background: Laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR) is a prevalent disorder. The aim of the present retrospective cohort study was to evaluate oropharyngeal pH-monitoring using a novel scoring system for LPR. Methods: In a total of 180 consecutive patients with possible LPR, reflux symptom index (RSI), reflux finding score (RFS), oropharyngeal pH-monitoring and transnasal esophagoscopy were carried out for further investigation. Results: In our series, 99 (55%) patients had severe LPR, 29 (16%) cases presented with moderate and 23 (13%) with mild severity, 9 (5%) subjects revealed neutral values, and 7 (4%) individuals were alkaline, while 13 (7%) patients had no LPR. In detecting LPR, the sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of oropharyngeal pH-monitoring was 95%, 93% and 94%, respectively. Conclusion: Oropharyngeal pH-monitoring is a reliable tool in the assessment of LPR, but the pH graphs have to be precisely analyzed and interpreted in context with other validated diagnostic tests.

Background: Laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR) can display a variety of symptoms, and upper endoscopy is occasionally used for its investigation. The aim of the present study was to determine the value of transnasal esophagoscopy (TNE) in the workup of LPR. Methods: In 200 consecutive patients with suspected LPR, reflux symptom index (RSI), reflux finding score (RFS), oropharyngeal pH-monitoring (PHM) and transnasal esophagoscopy (TNE) were carried out and rated according to the Horvath Score. Results: In the investigation of LPR, TNE showed a sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of 96%, 85% and 95%, respectively. The most common pathologic TNE findings in LPR patients were an insufficient cardia, hiatal hernia, lymphoid follicles and visible reflux. Conclusions: TNE is a supportive method in the workup of LPR, which can display the underlying pathology and directly affect therapeutic decisions.