Objectives: (1) To define patient demographics and common symptoms in patients who undergo styloidectomy for stylohyoid pain syndrome (Eagle’s syndrome). (2) To evaluate the effectiveness of styloidectomy in reducing symptoms of Eagle’s syndrome. Methods: Retrospective chart review and prospective case series. We retrospectively gathered demographic data on all patients at a single institution who underwent styloidectomy during a 5-year period. Using a patient symptom survey, we also gathered prospective data on a cohort of these patients presenting during the second half of the timeframe. Results: Thirty-two patients underwent styloidectomy for Eagle’s syndrome between November 2010 and June 2015. Of these patients, 22 (68.8%) were female, 29 (90.6%) were Caucasian, and 10 (31.3%) reported history of tonsillectomy. Mean age was 46.0 years, and mean BMI was 26.1 kg/m2. Nineteen patients completed the prospective survey. Average styloid length was 45.3 mm. Most severe preoperative symptoms were neck pain, otalgia, globus, facial pain, headache, and discomfort with neck turning. Thirteen of 17 individual symptoms demonstrated significant decrease in symptom scores after styloidectomy. Aggregate symptom scores also showed significant decrease postsurgically. Longer styloid length correlated with increased scores for dysphagia and odynophagia but not with conglomerate symptom scores. Conclusions: Patients with Eagle’s syndrome were mostly female, Caucasian, and had near-normal BMI. There is wide variability in presenting symptoms of Eagle’s syndrome, but nearly all demonstrate improvement after styloidectomy. Thus, in appropriately selected patients, styloidectomy can effectively and reliably produce improvement in patient symptoms.

Objective measurement of the nasal valve region is valuable for the assessment of functional rhinoplasty surgical outcomes. Anatomical optical coherence tomography (aOCT) is an imaging modality that may be used to obtain real-time, quantitative, and volumetric scans of the nasal airway. We aim to evaluate if volumetric aOCT imaging is useful for the examination of the nasal valve region before and after functional rhinoplasty procedures. aOCT scans of the nasal valves were performed on four cadaveric heads before and after spreader graft and butterfly graft procedures. The resulting aOCT images were compared against video endoscopy images, and the segmented volumes of the nasal airway obtained from aOCT scans were compared with computed tomography (CT) derived volumes acquired under the same conditions. The aOCT-derived volumes match the CT volumes closely, with a mean Dice similarity coefficient of 0.88 and a mean Hausdorff distance of 2.3 mm. Furthermore, the aOCT images were found to represent the shape of the nasal cavity accurately. Due to its ability to perform realtime, quantitative, and accurate evaluation of the nasal airway, aOCT imaging is a promising modality for the objective assessment of the nasal valves before and after functional rhinoplasty procedures.

Objectives/Hypothesis: To establish the utility of anatomic optical coherence tomography (aOCT) in evaluating internal nasal valve (INV).Study Design: Anatomic specimen imaging study. Methods: Fresh-harvested human specimen heads were evaluated using both computed tomography (CT) imaging as well as using aOCT. Scans were performed at three time points: 1) After septoplasty for cartilage harvest, 2) after placement of butterfly graft (BFG), and 3) after placement of bilateral spreader grafts (SG). Imaging data were then converted into 3D models of the nasal airway. CT-and aOCT-generated models were compared by both static volumetric analysis and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to predict nasal resistance and pressure.Results: Scans using aOCT showed comparable results to CT in terms of volumetric parameters both before and after intervention. Analysis of aOCT data by CFD demonstrated decrease in pressure after SG or BFG intervention. No statistically significant difference was observed when comparing CT-and aOCT-generated calculations of pressure or resistance. Conclusion:The INV can be imaged in a static fashion using aOCT technology. Advantages over traditional CT imaging include lack of exposure to radiation and rapid scan time. In addition, in-office use is possible as aOCT technology develops. Further investigation will be necessary to define the role of aOCT in the dynamic evaluation of this vital component of the nasal airway.

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