anyone ever have the measurements done by the radiologist on the CT scan be wrong? on the report is says my R is 3cm and L is 2.5 cm with normal being 2.5cm but on my right side the styloid protrudes out into my throat at least .5 cm and you can feel the tip of the left. I just can’t believe that they aren’t longer than that.
I think that quite a few members have found once they’ve had surgery that the removed styloid was longer than their CT/ X-ray showed. There’s also confusion with radiographers (IMO!) with how they measure the SP- some just measure the SP, some measure the SP and any calcified ligament all together, so that would vary it all, plus I also found a comment on one research paper that the SP length can be variable depending what medium is used for imaging, as SPs show better on some images more than others…
Thanks Jules, I think it may be the second one, the report says there is calcification of the SH ligament and then says they measure, close to normal length hmmm. I’m not sure my doc has enough experience with ES and is relying on the report. I guess I’ll see when he gets back to me.
Styloid angle can also be an issue. I imagine that if your styloid is growing at a steep inward angle, even a normal length styloid could produce problems.
Angle or not they hurt and these rad techs need to know there job better have had multiple ex rays and regular ex rays and ct an m r I and they don’t have a clue on this syndrome my neurosurgeon William beringer in Hawaii told me I had it and then one ct scan and then concluded that for sure I had grotesque eagles syndrome and that they need to go home and back to where they came from we all that ain’t go to happen so to all keep a stiff upper lip and be ready this ain’t no joke and it’s really painful through pain and suffering come hope prayer and respect for something we can’t changed it to will pass Aloha god bless you all with this and know it will get better Aloha buzzzzzzy
So is your surgeon now refusing to do your ES surgery? Your styloid does look quite thick.
Thanks for your response awsome can’t find a dr to do it or take my United Health care dual complete and I’m in the big island of Hawaii so I’m screwed basically there horrible and making my broken neck surgery heal a lot slower and still a nagging pain like a screw gun in the neck 24/7 so one to help me yet and the dr wrote me today his service fir 90 min was $4000.00 plus the guy to drug me for 90 min and then the hospital bill for a day or two I’m a disabled veteran on limited funds and just keep getting know where . Do I just keep keeping on and see how that goes it will go no where so thanks and Aloha but no answer for me yet Aloha buzzzzzzy:)))
Hey, I thought I’d contribute to this thread. I’m currently trying to determine whether I have Eagle Syndrome (2D CT scan said my styloids are about 2,5cm long, ligaments could not be seen). I came across this article: The last page explains pretty well how 2D measurements can be completely underestimated: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Lokman_Uzun3/publication/7449206_Three-dimensional_CT_of_Eagle’s_syndrome/links/0fcfd5080ca5697dfa000000/Three-dimensional-CT-of-Eagles-syndrome.pdf?origin=publication_detail
I’m sorry for your frustration. As a retired vet, you deserve to be taken care of without all this hassle. Seems crazy that your insurance doesn’t give you better coverage.
Dr. Samji used to reduce his fee by about 1/2 for cash paying patients, but the total bill is still pretty doggone big ($10K + which doesn’t include anesthesiology or surgery ctr fees).
Another option is to look into “Medical Tourism”. There’s a doctor in Mexicali Mexico who’s done quite a number of ES surgeries & a couple people from this forum have flown to see him when they couldn’t get help elsewhere. They gave good reports about how professional & caring both the staff & doctor were. I believe both had good surgical outcomes. They both saw Dr. Landeros. I think the cost was around $4K for the surgery there. Might be worth it to inquire.
Thanks for that link, Michael- it looks like a useful paper , and another thing to help members push for the right scan. We have noticed over time that often members who’d had surgery said that when their SPs were removed they were longer than assessed on scans.
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anyone ever have the measurements done by the radiologist on the CT scan be wrong? on the report is says my R is 3cm and L is 2.5 cm with normal being 2.5cm but on my right side the styloid protrudes out into my throat at least .5 cm and you can feel the tip of the left. I just can’t believe that they aren’t longer than that.
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Not sure myself going to see dr samji next month for pre op and remove one of these demons hopefully so just holding my breath I’ll keep everyone posted Aloha and happy holidays and merry Christmas buzz eagles o
It is virtually impossible to accurately measure the length of styloid processes in 2D. As you can see in the pictures I attached, the styloid process often has a curved structure, so you can’t get a proper 2D-angle to measure it accurately. It’s like measuring a banana in 2D, if you will. This is confirmed by Turkish scientists:
“Another advantage of the 3D-CT images is, of course, three dimensional
length measurements, which are impossible in 2D images such as in coronal or axial planes. In cross-sectional imaging, even in coronal plane, most
of the time the images will not be parallel to the SP, which leads to underestimation of the actual length of the styloid process. There was no single CT slice completely parallel to the styloid process in our two cases in whom CT
images were obtained in the coronal plane. We were able to visualize the entire styloid process only in 3D-CT and then accurately measure their lengths.”
(Source: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/7449206_Three-dimensional_CT_of_Eagle's_syndrome [accessed Dec 13 2017].)
