Length of the ossified stylohyoid complex and Eagle syndrome

To assess radiographically the presence of an ossified stylohyoid complex (OSHC) with signs and symptoms of Eagle syndrome or other oro-facial painful diseases in patients attending our institution and to confirm that the important issue for study is to know the length of the ossificated portion of the stylohyoid complex only. We separated 1000 consecutive files, and after selection, 922 panoramic radiographs were evaluated. Assessed parameters were gender and age of the patients, size, and location of the analyzed OSHCs. In addition, the length parameters of the studied OSHCs were also determined in 100 extra radiographs. Normal length of OSHCs was between 2.83 and 4.16 cm and OSHCs measuring more than 4.17 cm long comprising 23.2% of the sample. Any of the patients with OSHC presented signs or symptoms of the Eagle syndrome or any other orofacial painful disease. This is the first study on OSHCs using the mandatory parameters of normal, short and elongated length in the studied population. Our results suggest that the presence of an OSHC is not an important feature for pain detection in the Eagle syndrome and is not an important risk factor for development of throat pain in this and other painful orofacial diseases. Our results are different from those previously published in other populations and suggest that the widely used lengths of 2 to 4 cm for measuring the OSHCs are not adequate parameter. It is desirable to define first the short, normal and abnormal parameters of OSHCs in each studied population.