HI Sara, I read your previous thread where you explain your story. Bilateral calcification You said previously that 1 year ago you had a CT scan of your paranasal sinuses and an MRI scan (I assume thiswas a cerebral MRI scan with contrast that showed a part of your neck ? or the whole of your neck down to your thoracic inlet ?)
You said that your main symptoms, now 1 year later, are difficulty swallowing, discomfort in the chest, neck stiffness and tinnitus when lying down with your neck slightly bent or with abrupt movements; but you didn’t have these symptoms when you previously had your scans.
First of all, I’m not doctor so the following is just my take of your symptoms…… It is most likely that your styloids and calcified stylohyoid ligaments explain your difficulties swallowing and possibly neck stiffness. Also your occasional tinnitus could be explained by the styloid(s) or calcified stylohyoid ligament(s) touching the internal carotid artery or it could be explained by the internal jugular vein being compressed by loops of the internal carotid artery as found by Dr Kamran Aghayev. As there is this internal jugular vein compression and the vagus nerve is found in the carotid sheath between the internal carotid artery and the internal jugular, possible vagus nerve compression could indeed explain the discomfort in your chest.
But after saying all this it is important to have peace of mind. And this will only come with knowing that you have covered everything. So maybe you should do a cervical/neck CT angiogram/venogram with contrast seeing your symptoms have come on 1 year after your previous scans. (Make sure you are not allergic to iodine). Your styloids and calcified stylohyoid ligaments will probably be unchanged, the loops of the internal carotid artery causing internal jugular vein compression will be unchanged but maybe the collateral veins that have developed to compensate for your internal jugular vein compression have developed further causing the stiffness in your neck. Also if your previous MRI with contrast? didn’t go right down to the thoracic inlet, then this area can be looked at for completeness.
At least when you have had your surgery this CT scan with contrast will be useful to compare it with the post-operative CT scan.