[The gender- and age-specific differences in the structure of the styloid processes of the temporal bone]

The objective of the present study was to elucidate the significance of the gender- and age-related alterations in the styloid processes of the temporal bone and their gender specific structural changes in the subjects aged above 35 years as the risk factors of the development of stylohyoid syndrome. A total of 72 styloid processes were harvested from the corpses during post-mortem autopsy. Their fixed preparations were used to determine by means of digital radiovisiography specific structural features of the bone tissue, the thickness of the cortical layer, diameter of osteons and Haversian canals, the number of osteons per unit area. The data obtained from the subjects below and above 35 years of age were compared. A distinctive morphological feature of styloid processes taken from adult people was the presence of residual embryonic cartilaginous tissue (in 40% of the observations) in which the processes of endo- and perihondral oteogenesis continued (15% of the cases). The elder subjects were characterized by the significantly decreased bone tissue density, reduced number of osteons and osteocytes whereas the diameters of Haversian canals increased. These changes were more pronounced in the women than in the men. It is concluded that the continued growth of styloid processes and the development of bone tissue osteopenia in the subjects older than 35 years may serve as the risk factors of stylohyoid syndrome.