Incidence of Stylohyoid Ligament Calcification and Its Length in an Iranian Adult Population

Abstract

Introduction: Elongation and calcification of the stylohyoid ligament complex may be correlated with eagle’s syndrome which could cause facial pain or dysphasia. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of stylohyoid ligament complex elongation in Iranian adults. Methods: Panoramic radiographs of 504 patients older than 20 years referring to the dental school were selected from 2003 to 2008. The stylohyoid ligament complexes were measured from the cranial base up to the osseous tip of each process. Mineralization of the complex of more than 25 mm in length on the radiograph was considered to be abnormal. The lengths of the areas of mineralization were recorded. Results: This abnormality was seen in both sexes. A calcified complex was found in 135 of the 504 patients. Of the total, 26.8% were longer than 25mm and so were abnormal. They included 20.4% bilateral cases and the average length was 21.7±7.65mm. Ten patients (2%) of the abnormalities were longer than 40mm in each age group. The mean length of a mineralized stylohyoid ligament complex in patients in the 60-79 years age group was 23.13mm. Conclusion: The results suggest that anatomical variant of the stylohyoid ligament complex is frequent in Iranian population and present in both sexes with equal distribution.

Keywords

• Eagle Syndrome
• Calcification
• Physiologic
• Radiology