Abstract
ementia and in patients in prodromal stages of these diseases. We also present a new smell identification test developed at our Memory Clinic - the Motol Hospital Smell Test (MHST).
Subjects and Methods: Based on the results of neuropsychological testing and MRI, 138 patients were classified into several groups as Alzheimer's disease (AD), Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration (FTLD), Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) - amnestic (aMCI) and nonamnestic (naMCI), Subjective Memory Complaint (SMC) and a control group. Smell identification was examined using MHST and the University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test (UPSIT).
Results: Smell identification was significantly impaired in AD (p < 0.001), FTLD (p < 0.001) and aMCI (p < 0.01) when compared to the control group. The naMCI and SMC patients did not differ from control group.
MHST results correlated with UPSIT results (r = 0.68, p < 0.0005). Conclusions: Impaired smell identification in AD and aMCI and intact smell identification in naMCI correspondent with the hypothesis that aMCI represents a prodromal stage of AD, whereas naMCI typically converts to non-AD dementia.
Results obtained by MHST and UPSIT show that sensitivity and specificity for assessment of smell identification impairment is at the same level in both tests.