Eagle's syndrome caused by traumatic fracture of a mineralized stylohyoid ligament--literature review and a case report

Abstract

Eagle's Syndrome is the common name for a series of clinical symptoms arising from an elongated styloid process of the temporal bone. The syndrome is named for Watt W. Eagle, M.D., who described its occurrence in a series of articles beginning in 1937. Common presentations of Eagle's Syndrome are a post-tonsillectomy, nerve irritation and an impingement on either the external or internal carotid artery. The styloid process is the first section of the stylohyoid chain, formed by the stylohyoid ligament. Sections of this structure have the ability to mineralize, forming a rigid segment. This mineralized segment is then subject to fracture due to traumatic injury. The literature is reviewed for examples of traumatic fracture of the mineralized stylohyoid ligament, and a clinical case is presented.