The styloid process (SP) is a cylindrical, long cartilaginous bone located on the temporal bone. The normal SP length is approximately 20-30 mm. The styloid process elongation (SPE) can be assumed if either the SP or the adjacent stylohyoid ligament ossification shows an overall length in excess of 30 mm. Elongated SP is known as Eagle's syndrome when it causes clinical symptoms as neck and cer...

BACKGROUND The nevoid basal cell carcinoma syndrome (NBCCS), first described by Gorlin and Goltz in 1960, is a hereditary autosomal dominant disease with high penetrance and variable expressivity. Almost 70% of patients with NBCCS have some degree of craniofacial anomaly. Among these, the presence of ectopic calcification have been reported but Atlanto-occipital ligament calcification has never...

This paper presents the case of an adult male skull with bilateral ossification of the stylohyoid complex. The total length of the stylohyoid complex amounts to 62 mm on the left side and 65 mm on the right side. Visual inspection of the stylohyoid revealed the presence of callosities that are located on both stylohyoid complexes at nearly the same level. These sites are regarded as the ossifie...

In the course of normal development in man, the middle and largest part of the second branchial arch, the keratohyal cartilage, develops into a fibrous cord, the so-called stylohyoid ligament. Ossification takes place solely at its two ends, that is, in the hyoid bone and in the styloid process of the skull. In the present paper the significance for the clinical rheumatologist of some developme...

Published case studies involving diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis (DISH) along with symptomatic ossification of the stylohyoid ligament, or "Eagle syndrome," are rare. In this report, we document a case of bilateral Eagle syndrome and advanced DISH in the cervical spine of an 80-year-old man who presented with severe neck stiffness and intermittent asphyxia. The key imaging and clinical...

INTRODUCTION  Eagle's syndrome is characterized by cervicopharyngeal signs and symptoms associated with elongation of the styloid apophysis. This elongation may occur through ossification of the stylohyoid ligament, or through growth of the apophysis due to osteogenesis triggered by a factor such as trauma. Elongation of the styloid apophysis may give rise to intense facial pain, headache, dysp...

BACKGROUND Calcification of the yellow ligament sometimes compresses the spinal cord and can induce myelopathy. Usually, the calcification does not induce acute neck pain. We report a case of a patient with acute neck pain caused by calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate in a calcified cervical yellow ligament. CASE PRESENTATION A 70-year-old Japanese woman presented with acute neck pain. She had a ...

We report a case of an incidental nodular calcification of the alar ligament simulating a fracture in the craniovertebral junction of a previously healthy 24-year-old man. Three-dimensional CT and MR imaging revealed a 7.2 x 7.6 x 4.0 mm nodular calcification in the right alar ligament with normal adjacent bony structures. Serial cervical dynamic radiographs and open-mouth views showed that the...