Rare Fractured Styloid Process? Symptoms of dizziness, confusion, persistent agitation, weak arms, pain and something stuck in neck. Please help

[csainsworth]

Hey Everyone! My name is Conlan. I am a 25 YO Male, who lives in London, UK.

In 2016, I had a severe head injury. I was skiing in the Moutains of Austria, fell back, hit my head, and as a result I suffered from concussion. After recovering in hospital, I imediately suffere from diziness, but only in my left eye.If i close my eye, the diziness, most notably the visual diorientation, goes away.

A very small time after my injury, I struggled with my awareness. I stopped playing football, stopped athletics, I stopped all sports - my memory was almost non existant, my reading was affected, and since then have suffered with persistant neurological symptoms.

Scan after scan, the doctors could not find anything. That was until 2023 June, where I was diagnosed with Eagle syndrome. This was after more than 15 CT scans. Once the diagnosis was made, it was clear, I had fractured the styloid process. BUt the specialists still cannot agree to whether my fracture is causing all my symptoms.

Added to this, I have a recent finding of what is akin to adult congenital torticollis - a rare medical condition where the SCM muscle becomes hypertropic (it is more than 1.5cm bigger than that of the right SCM).

My theory is that as the SCM has grown, it has started to compress on my fracture, and due to no surgery, it is now causing a vascular variant of Eagle Syndrome. I would love to know your thoughts.

Please find a screenshot of my scan below.

I should add also, I am seeing Mr Hughes in London tomorrow! 15 Jan, 2024. He is an Eagle syndrome specialist. Hopefully by the time I am back tomorrow, I may have some replies here!

Thank you in advance,

Conlan

Please note: My frequent symptoms that never go away are: pressure in the neck, pain in the throat, pain in the neck when turning to the left, dizziness in the left eye, shoulder pain, left arm weakness, and persistent agitation.

[csainsworth]

Further info: I am not able to add attachments to my first message. May someone assist me please?

[Isaiah_40_31]

I have just upgraded your account, @csainsworth, so you should be able to post your image now. It’s a security measure & to help prevent spam that our software requires new members to post once or twice before images can be added.

[csainsworth]

Thank you! I have now uploaded it.

[Isaiah_40_31]

Both your styloids look long, but the right is definitely longer, more curved inward, & the break is evident. We believe that if a styloid breaks, the broken piece becomes more mobile than the styloid is as a whole, and the extra mobility of the broken piece can allow it to wreak havoc with the nerves, vascular & other soft tissues in the area. I’m really sorry for how terrible your symptoms are & how they’ve negatively impacted your life. Sadly, that is the way of ES.

[Isaiah_40_31]

I’m also not sure what the things are that I’ve circled but they look calcified, & I don’t think they belong there. Hopefully someone else has an idea.

[csainsworth]

Thank you so much for the reply. This may be why I often have weak arms (due to the nerves), often not able to play the piano or concentrate like I could before!

Does the problem look bilateral to you, or just one side? It seems on the left the bone is hanging - (from a novice point of view!)

If you desire to see the full scan, I would be more than happy to send you a link to view it on an online portal!

[csainsworth]

@Isaiah_40_31 I see you have circled the styloid! What is that bone that is broken, is it a separate bone, or part of the styloid process?

[csainsworth]

I really hope so. I know Dr Hughes in London is only 1of very few who perform Styloidectomy in UK. It is crazy that here in London the doctors originally said ‘nothing is wrong’, even a Neurosurgeon said that to me, but I can feel severe pain every day.

[Isaiah_40_31]

I saw you deleted your post about the styloids, but I have circled them in orange so you are perfectly clear. The aqua circled calcifications are a mystery to me.

[Isaiah_40_31]

Mr. Obholzer is another doctor you can consult if Mr. Hughes doesn’t offer to help you.

[csainsworth]

@Isaiah_40_31 Apologies, I am new to the website, I think I replied twice! I have reinstated the reply to make things more clear.

WRT the bumps, I was wondering what they were! They look odd. If you know any further specialists who may know what they are, please do let me know.

Thank you for recommending Mr. Obholzer, I will no doubt reach out to him If have no luck tomorrow!

[Isaiah_40_31]

@csainsworth

What is that bone that is broken, is it a separate bone, or part of the styloid process?

In your case, I would concur that your styloid has broken. However, it is possible for the stylohyoid ligament to calcify starting just below the styloid process giving the appearance that the styloid has elongated then broken when in actuality, the styloid has stayed normal length but the calcification on the s-h ligament creates a deceiving story.

Please feel free to send me the link to your scan, though I can’t promise to be terribly helpful in viewing your images. Click on my screen name as it appears above this post & that will take you to where you can send the link to me in a PM. You can also download your scans to dicomlibrary.com which will anonymize them & give you a link to your anonymized scans to share on the forum if you’d like.

[csainsworth]

Thank you so much. I have sent you a PM!

[LimeZest]

Hi I’m also UK based! Happy to look at your scans if you have them. Hope you have a good outcome from the consult tomorrow

[Isaiah_40_31]

The calcifications in the aqua circles look to be calcifications that occur under each of the greater horns of the hyoid. Very unusual.

[Jules]

I hope it goes well with Mr Hughes!

[Mcwelly]

Good luck with Mr Hughes, I hope you will list an update. I found him ambiguous and not particularly interested, maybe because I have cervical spine issues ? What? And I am older.

[Isaiah_40_31]

I would think cervical spine issues could exacerbate ES symptoms. Mr. Hughes should have been more helpful for you. I remember he gave you an extremely short appointment after your long wait to see him, @Mcwelly. So frustrating!!

[Mcwelly]

Thank you @Isaiah_40_31 - yes still waiting and still suffering . I think I misread my CT with contrast (am not a dr after all!). The so ‘large muscle’ on my left side, I now believe is probably my IJV. What do you think?