A New Light on the Pathogenesis of the Styloid Syndrome

OWING to numerous publications the clinical picture of the elongated styloid process, first described by Lucke (1870) and Dwight (1907), has now become widely known. Eagle 1 succeeded in differentiating various clinical forms of the syndrome. It is generally agreed that an elongated styloid process may, under determined conditions, cause pharyngeal pains: a nagging dull ache laterally in the throat when swallowing (frequently referred to the ear), difficulty in swallowing, and sensation of pressure or of a foreign body in the pharynx. Yet, as Harma2 showed, not all elongated styloid processes become symptomatic, because stylalgia on both sides is described only in about 50% of known cases with bilateral elongation of the process. Tonsillectomy, considered as the decisive cause for the appearance of pains by Americans and only an aggravating element by the French, is not always immediately followed by symptoms referable to the styloid process. In most instances a