Elongated styloid process (Eagle's syndrome): literature review and a case report

Abstract

Eagle's syndrome occurs when an elongated styloid process or calcified stylohyoid ligament causes recurrent throat pain or foreign body sensation, dysphagia, or facial pain. Additional symptoms may include neck or throat pain with radiation to the ipsilateral ear. The symptoms related to this condition can be confused with those attributed to a wide variety of facial neuralgias. Diagnosis can usually be made on physical examination by digital palpation of the styloid process in the tonsillar fossa. The treatment of Eagle's syndrome is primarily surgical. The styloid process can be shortened through an intraoral or external approach. We report a 51-year-old woman with the symptomatology of Eagle's syndrome and literature review.