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PICTURES IN CLINICAL MEDICINE
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Eagle’s Syndrome Manifesting as Chronic Swallowing Pain Hideharu Hagiya, Koichi Waseda, Hiroko Ogawa and Fumio Otsuka Key words: elongated styloid process, neck pain, odynophagia (Intern Med 54: 1321, 2015) (DOI: 10.2169/internalmedicine.54.4262)
Frontal view
Right oblique view Picture.
A 73-year-old man complaining of swallowing pain that had persisted for several months visited our hospital. He also suffered from right neck pain when yawning or bending his neck downward. The patient was afebrile, and the results of a physical examination and laboratory tests were unremarkable. Three-dimensional computed tomography demonstrated elongation of the right styloid process, approximately 40 mm in length, reaching the palatine tonsil (Picture). A diagnosis of Eagle’s syndrome as the origin of the swallowing pain was made. Eagle’s syndrome is triggered by an abnormally elongated styloid process, causing cervicofacial pain. The disease is not well known among physicians and is underdiagnosed; however, it may result in neighboring vascular injury (1), and surgery provides effective pain relief (2). Although swallowing pain is a common chief complaint in daily
medical practice, this symptom is sometimes a red flag for serious diseases and may unavoidably expose the patient to chronic anxiety, as observed in the present case. Eagle’s syndrome should therefore be included in the differential diagnosis of patients with swallowing pain, especially those exhibiting a chronic course. The authors state that they have no Conflict of Interest (COI).
References 1. Yamamoto S, Todo K, Kawamoto M, Kohara N. Carotid artery dissection associated with an elongated styloid process. Intern Med 52: 1005-1006, 2013. 2. Nagato T, Ohara K, Takahara M, Hayashi T, Harabuchi Y. Clinical images: Eagle’s syndrome. Arthritis Rheum 64: 1561, 2012.
Department of General Medicine, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Japan Received for publication October 12, 2014; Accepted for publication October 21, 2014 Correspondence to Dr. Hideharu Hagiya, [email protected] Ⓒ 2015 The Japanese Society of Internal Medicine Journal Website: http://www.naika.or.jp/imonline/index.html
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PICTURES IN CLINICAL MEDICINE
□
Eagle’s Syndrome Manifesting as Chronic Swallowing Pain Hideharu Hagiya, Koichi Waseda, Hiroko Ogawa and Fumio Otsuka Key words: elongated styloid process, neck pain, odynophagia (Intern Med 54: 1321, 2015) (DOI: 10.2169/internalmedicine.54.4262)
Frontal view
Right oblique view Picture.
A 73-year-old man complaining of swallowing pain that had persisted for several months visited our hospital. He also suffered from right neck pain when yawning or bending his neck downward. The patient was afebrile, and the results of a physical examination and laboratory tests were unremarkable. Three-dimensional computed tomography demonstrated elongation of the right styloid process, approximately 40 mm in length, reaching the palatine tonsil (Picture). A diagnosis of Eagle’s syndrome as the origin of the swallowing pain was made. Eagle’s syndrome is triggered by an abnormally elongated styloid process, causing cervicofacial pain. The disease is not well known among physicians and is underdiagnosed; however, it may result in neighboring vascular injury (1), and surgery provides effective pain relief (2). Although swallowing pain is a common chief complaint in daily
medical practice, this symptom is sometimes a red flag for serious diseases and may unavoidably expose the patient to chronic anxiety, as observed in the present case. Eagle’s syndrome should therefore be included in the differential diagnosis of patients with swallowing pain, especially those exhibiting a chronic course. The authors state that they have no Conflict of Interest (COI).
References 1. Yamamoto S, Todo K, Kawamoto M, Kohara N. Carotid artery dissection associated with an elongated styloid process. Intern Med 52: 1005-1006, 2013. 2. Nagato T, Ohara K, Takahara M, Hayashi T, Harabuchi Y. Clinical images: Eagle’s syndrome. Arthritis Rheum 64: 1561, 2012.
Department of General Medicine, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Japan Received for publication October 12, 2014; Accepted for publication October 21, 2014 Correspondence to Dr. Hideharu Hagiya, [email protected] Ⓒ 2015 The Japanese Society of Internal Medicine Journal Website: http://www.naika.or.jp/imonline/index.html
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![[Chronic pain as a psychosomatic syndrome].](/assets/img/hold.png)
