The distribution of stylohyoid chain anatomic variations by age groups and gender: an analysis using MDCT

• Published in: European archives of oto-rhino-laryngology 2013-05, Vol.270 (5), p.1715-1720
• Main Authors: Ekici, Faysal, Tekbas, Guven, Hamidi, Cihad, Onder, Hakan, Goya, Cemil, Cetincakmak, Mehmet Guli, Gumus, Hatice, Uyar, Aşur, Bilici, Aslan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Age Distribution; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Anatomic Variation; Bone and Bones; Female; Head and Neck; Head and Neck Surgery; Humans; Hyoid Bone - anatomy & histology; Hyoid Bone - diagnostic imaging; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; Male; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Middle Aged; Multidetector Computed Tomography; Neurosurgery; Organ Size; Osteogenesis; Otorhinolaryngology; Retrospective Studies; Sex Distribution; Temporal Bone - anatomy & histology; Temporal Bone - diagnostic imaging; Young Adult
• ISSN: 0937-4477; 1434-4726
• DOI: 10.1007/s00405-012-2202-5

The aim of this study is to investigate the frequency of the SHC variations, and the distribution of the SP lengths in different age and sex groups using MDCT. MDCT scans were performed in 805 patients (401 males, 404 females). The patients were divided into six groups according to their ages. The length of the styloid process (SP) and its angulation on the transverse (TA) and sagittal (SA) planes were measured. Structural variations of the SHC were observed by means of three-dimensional (3D) and multiplanar reconstruction (MPR) images. Absence of the styloid process ( n  = 10), double proximal origin ( n  = 13), segmentation ( n  = 223), complete ossification ( n  = 24), and an SP with three proximal parts in one patient were among the anomalies detected. The mean length of the SP was greater in males than in females (33.2 ± 13.2 vs. 29.6 ± 10.5 mm, P