The styloid process in a Greek population: an anatomical study with clinical implications

The study determines the variability of the length of the styloid process in a Greek population and investigates how it is affected by gender and age; it also evaluates the side asymmetry, highlighting clinical implications. One hundred and forty-nine dry adult modern skulls (94 male and 55 female) were divided into subgroups according to their age: 20-39, 40-59 and older than 60 years. The lengths of 262 styloid processes (127 right and 135 left-sided) were measured. The lengths of right-sided styloid processes ranged from 6.4 to 70.2 mm and left-sided styloid processes from 5.2 to 69.0 mm. The processes were classified according to their lengths as short < 18 mm, normal 18-33 mm and elongated > 33 mm. The majority of the processes were normal (45.8 %), 27.5 % were short and 26.7 % elongated. No statistical significant correlation was established among the lengths of the styloid processes, gender and age. Side asymmetry was found only in the group with elongated styloid processes (right processes were longer, 28.3 %, than the left ones 25.2 %; p = 0.016). Our study contributes to the literature, adding important information about the length of the styloid process and its diversity in the Greek population. It also confirms the existence of an osseous landmark as a starting point for the measurement of the length of the styloid process and proposes a method of measurement for the evaluation of the actual length of the styloid process.