Eagle's Syndrome: from the clinical presentation to the diagnosis and surgical treatment of a case report. Sindrome di Eagle: aspetti clinici, diagnostici e trattamento chirurgico.

Eagle’s syndrome is a condition associated with the elongation of the styloid process or calcification of the stylohyoid ligament, clinically characterized by throat and neck pain, radiating into the ear. In this report we describe the case of a 60-year-old female who presented with a severe unilateral trigeminal and glossopharyngeal neuralgia. The patient was subjected to conservative therapy for four moths and did not report improvement of the symptoms. After several consultations with different physicians, the diagnosis was accomplished by radiological investigation (Multidetector Computer Tomography with multi-planar reconstructions and 3D volumetric reconstructions). Surgical styloidectomy was performed, with subsequent sudden remission of symptoms. Eagle’s syndrome represents a commonly unrecognized nosological entity, clinically characterized by non-specific cranio-facial pain. Differential diagnosis includes glossopharyngeal and trigeminal neuralgia, temporal arteritis, migraine, myofascial pain dysfunction and cervical arthritis. Eagle's syndrome should always be suspected, mostly in adult women and when the pain is unilateral and not responsive to painkillers.