Does the orientation of the styloid process cause Eagle Syndrome? An anatomical study of the styloid process in 72 Greek skulls

Abstract

<b>Introduction:</b> Patients often suffer from an elongated styloid process. This clinical entity is well known and is described as Eagle syndrome. The presence of this anatomical variation is not always associated with symptoms. However, there is a strong correlation between the elongated styloid process and Eagle syndrome </br></br> <b>Aim:</b> This study aims to calculate the incidence of elongated styloid processes in the Greek population, to analyze the morphometric characteristics of styloid processes, and to compare these among sexes. </br></br> <b>Material and methods:</b> This is a single-center retrospective study. All skulls were donated to the Department of Anatomy, the Ari-stotle University of Thessaloniki from January 2013 to May 2019 for research purposes. A styloid process longer than 30 mm was considered elongated. We used Welch’s t-test for the statistical analysis of the data. </br></br> <b>Results:</b> The prevalence of elongated styloid processes was 35%. The average diameter was 3.32 mm and the average total length was 25.02 mm. There was no statistically significant difference between male and female skulls, though the female styloid processes were slightly longer and the male ones were slightly wider. Symmetry was recorded in 31% of skulls. Average axial angle was 650 but in 4% of cases it was less than 20⁰. </br></br> <b>Conclusions:</b> The elongated styloid process is not a rare entity. Eagle syndrome should always be considered in the differential diagnosis when patients report chronic sore throat. Our anatomical findings add a new dimension to the etiopathogenesis of Eagle syndrome.