open access

Vol 79, No 1 (2020)
Original article
Submitted: 2019-07-12
Accepted: 2019-10-04
Published online: 2019-10-16
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A computed tomography-based morphometric study of the styloid process

A. H. Baykan1, Z. Doğan2, G. Özcan1
·
Pubmed: 31621055
·
Folia Morphol 2020;79(1):120-126.
Affiliations
  1. Department of Radiology, Adiyaman University Faculty of Medicine, 02100 Adiyaman, Türkiye
  2. Department of Anatomy, Adiyaman University Faculty of Medicine, Adiyaman, Turkey, 02100 Adiyaman, Türkiye

open access

Vol 79, No 1 (2020)
ORIGINAL ARTICLES
Submitted: 2019-07-12
Accepted: 2019-10-04
Published online: 2019-10-16

Abstract

Background: The styloid process (SP) refers to a cylindrical piece projecting from the inferior of the temporal bone, situated anterior to the stylomastoid foramen. It is an anatomic formation close to major vessels and nerves, and its excessive elongation results in pathologies leading to anatomical disorders, such as Eagle’s syndrome. Several studies have been conducted on SP in relation to its close proximity to vessels and nerves, but there is no study that reveals its distance to important anatomical formations, such as the internal auditory meatus (IAM), carotid canal (CC), cochlea, tegmen tympani (TT) and tragus. In the current study, we aimed to investigate the incidence of Eagle’s syndrome based on morphometric measurements of SP.

Materials and methods: The patient files archived in the Radiology Department of Adiyaman University Training and Research Hospital were retrospectively examined. The study was carried out on the data of patients for whom specialist radiologists found no pathology findings on the computed tomography images. A total of 77 individuals (36 females and 41 males) aged 22 to 54 years were included in the study. The length of SP and its distances to IAM, cochlea, CC, TT and tragus were obtained using computed tomography radiological measurements.

Results: When the individual measurements performed on computed tomography images were evaluated in men and women, no significant difference was found concerning the distance between SP and various anatomic structures in close proximity to SP (p > 0.05). However, there was a statistically significant difference between the genders in length of the right SP (p = 0.003) and left SP (p = 0.006).

Conclusions: This anthropometric study revealed the standard morphometric measurements of SP. We believe that the data obtained will help clinicians to identify and diagnose pathologies more easily.

Abstract

Background: The styloid process (SP) refers to a cylindrical piece projecting from the inferior of the temporal bone, situated anterior to the stylomastoid foramen. It is an anatomic formation close to major vessels and nerves, and its excessive elongation results in pathologies leading to anatomical disorders, such as Eagle’s syndrome. Several studies have been conducted on SP in relation to its close proximity to vessels and nerves, but there is no study that reveals its distance to important anatomical formations, such as the internal auditory meatus (IAM), carotid canal (CC), cochlea, tegmen tympani (TT) and tragus. In the current study, we aimed to investigate the incidence of Eagle’s syndrome based on morphometric measurements of SP.

Materials and methods: The patient files archived in the Radiology Department of Adiyaman University Training and Research Hospital were retrospectively examined. The study was carried out on the data of patients for whom specialist radiologists found no pathology findings on the computed tomography images. A total of 77 individuals (36 females and 41 males) aged 22 to 54 years were included in the study. The length of SP and its distances to IAM, cochlea, CC, TT and tragus were obtained using computed tomography radiological measurements.

Results: When the individual measurements performed on computed tomography images were evaluated in men and women, no significant difference was found concerning the distance between SP and various anatomic structures in close proximity to SP (p > 0.05). However, there was a statistically significant difference between the genders in length of the right SP (p = 0.003) and left SP (p = 0.006).

Conclusions: This anthropometric study revealed the standard morphometric measurements of SP. We believe that the data obtained will help clinicians to identify and diagnose pathologies more easily.

Get Citation

Keywords

temporal bone, styloid process, morphometric measurements, computed tomography

About this article
Title

A computed tomography-based morphometric study of the styloid process

Journal

Folia Morphologica

Issue

Vol 79, No 1 (2020)

Article type

Original article

Pages

120-126

Published online

2019-10-16

Page views

2459

Article views/downloads

826

DOI

10.5603/FM.a2019.0113

Pubmed

31621055

Bibliographic record

Folia Morphol 2020;79(1):120-126.

Keywords

temporal bone
styloid process
morphometric measurements
computed tomography

Authors

A. H. Baykan
Z. Doğan
G. Özcan

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