Hey everyone, I’m new here. Thanks for all the info on this site, it’s been very useful in hopefully helping me find some answers. I’ve had various symptoms over the last two years, ranging from head/neck/jaw pain, dysautonomia-like symptoms (chest pain, brain fog, pressure in the head, fast heart rate, heat flashes, dizziness, etc.), to pulsatile tinnitus, which is my main symptom and the reason I did imaging. All my scans (MRI/A, CT/A, and cerebral angiography) were read as normal, but the doctors did tell me that there was an increased blood flow to my ears that they couldn’t explain.
So I’ve looked into the scans myself and saw that there seem to be similarities to Eagle syndrome. From what I can see the styloid process/ligament seems to be pressing onto some arteries/veins? But correct me if I’m wrong. I’ve already called Dr. Martini’s office after finding his info on this website. I’m now on the waiting list for an appointment so he can look into the scans. Until then, I’d be happy if some of you might tell me what you think of the images.
It breaks my heart that you expirence these symptoms! What you are describing is related to ES. Hope you are doing okey !
The description off your symptoms does match with ES, as you have head pressure and diziness it could be some vasculare obstruction and facial nerve irritation . Do you expirence fatigue ?
This is also a possible sign/symptom off vasculare obstruction.
By the looks off it, looks like your stylohyoid ligaments is calcified on both sides. Your left Styloid Process looks a bit thick also. Your left stylohyoid ligament seems to be touching or disturbing your cartoid artery as i can see on the 3D images, the CT scan image looks like there are some ‘‘kinks’’ in the artery.
It does also look like there is some calcification on the lesser horn/body off the hyiod bone, but im not sure.
@vdm or @Isaiah_40_31 do you agree ?, maybe you can enlighten us a bit.
Welcome, @rtpanda! I’m glad you found us & hope the information on this forum helps you tremendously. I agree with @Henrik that your symptoms do match ES, & your symptoms could demonstrate some level of vascular compression.
I have annotated one of your images showing what I see. I can’t tell from the image if you do have ICA (internal carotid artery) or IJV (internal jugular vein) compression, but it does appear (as Henrik noted) that you have bilateral stylohyoid (s-h) ligament calcification, & the ICA could possibly be slightly compressed by the right s-h ligament while the IJV may be getting pressure on it from your styloid even though it’s not very long. It’s also possible the left stylohyoid calcification is touching your left ICA which could cause some vascular symptoms, too. It’s hard to tell from the angle of the image if the calcifications on right & left are touching the ICAs or just hovering above them.
I may have labeled the right styloid incorrectly (though the bone labeled “styloid process” looks like the styloid to me) & the thin bit of calcification marked by the orange arrow is actually your styloid process. Your anatomy in this area is a bit different than I’ve seen so I marked it the way it made sense to me.
@Henrik@Isaiah_40_31 Thank you for taking the time to look at my scans and giving me some more insights. From what I read online, the vascular Eagle Syndrome variant which presses on the artery increases the risk of dissections and stroke? At least my Google search is full of case studies like that. This seems more severe than I thought and I don’t know if I should seek more help from other doctors before Dr. Martini’s office reaches back out to me. Do you know if any other members had the artery variant of EG and how they were doing?
It is very, very rare for the styloids to cause a stroke, but obviously it’s understandable that it would worry you…members have had successful surgery for vascular ES, and there’s been very few who’ve had major issues like a stroke or dissection.
Is the wait very long for appointments in Germany? I don’t know how the healthcare system works…
I would perhaps avoid contact sports if you do anything like that, and also avoid seeing a chiropractor for neck adjustments to be on the safe side though!
Vasculare ES, could cause some scary symptoms and can in some cases cause TIA short for transient ischemic attack. If your arteries/veins are obstructed it will affect the blood flow and can become clogged. The arteries/veins around your neck goes up to your brain and serves your brain with oxygen and nutrients, lack off this can cause brainfog and fatigue.
I would suggest you get a utlrasound scan to rule out possible vasculare issues, or at least discuss that with Dr. Martini.
