Neurosurgical implications of the Jugular Vein Nutcracker

Abstract

In the last ten years, a new variant of Eagle Syndrome is emerging and being described: Styloid Jugular Nutcracker (SJN). In SJN, an elongated or vertically directed styloid process causes jugular vein stenosis by compressing the vein against the arch of C1. The clinical consequences appear to be various and misunderstood, ascribable mainly to venous flow impairment and consequent intracranial hypertension. The aim of this paper is to create an overview of Jugular Vein Nutcracker and to focus on its neurosurgical implications. A PRISMA-based literature search was performed to select the most relevant papers on the topic and to realize a mini-review. Future searches in the neurosurgical field should focus on collecting data about further causes of jugular stenosis compression and the association of SJN with cerebrovascular diseases. It would also be interesting to investigate the potential role of primary and secondary prevention, which is unknown so far.