5.2 Chronic rhinosinusitis and other upper respiratory tract
diseases
Is there a difference in the mechanism driving anosmia
in chronic rhinosinusitis and SARS-CoV-2 infection?
The loss of smell in chronic rhinosinusitis is caused by type-2
inflammation of the olfactory epithelium.119 In
COVID-19, the exact mechanism of potential olfactory neuropathy is still
unclear.120 However, a study found that sustentacular
cells of the olfactory epithelium express ACE2 and TMPRSS2, which enable
SARS-CoV-2 entry and may subsequently impair the sense of
smell.121