My CIDP log of CIDP versus Eagle Syndrome 2024: Some CIDP Symptoms may actually be caused or triggered by an elongated styloid process - a bone / ligament structure between my right ear and chin. Eagle Syndrome vs CIDP?:
July 16, 2024 Eagle Syndrome Diagnosis by a Dental Surgeon: a potential breakthrough on eye / facial pain as I have a diagnosis of "Eagle Syndrome", believe it or not after referral by my dentist!. I had previously seen more than a handful of doctors and came up with a highly questionable diagnosis, a blank, or denial that anything was wrong. This included visits to hospital emergency 2021 and discussions with my cidp neurologist and her referrals. Eagle Syndrome caused by an elongated styloid process and/or calcified stylohyoid ligaments, could explain pretty much all my eye/ head/ face issues as it effects the vagus nerve and carotid arteries. Autonomic dysfunction is a feature of Eagle’s Syndrome, See panoramic x-ray showing my elongated styloid process. Symptoms associated with Eagle Syndrome are due to impingement of adjacent anatomical structures contained within the carotid sheath including the carotid artery, jugular vein, glossopharyngeal nerve and vagus nerve, cranial nerves 9 and 10 respectively*. The vagus is the longest nerve of the autonomic nervous system in the human body and comprises both sensory and motor fibers. Eagle Syndrome can be dangerous causing frequent syncope (for example), even life-threatening via bilateral carotid artery dissection or stroke†
v BIG QUESTION: Does Eagle Syndrome cause or trigger my eyeball fasciculations, fasciculations generally, mini-seizures, "mind-blackouts" (march 2022), arrhythmia, and most of my facial pain. And what about the really weird spontaneous jaw-snapping I logged on January 12, 2021, Could Eagle Syndrome even be responsible for my mid-2013 unsettling breathing problems and near-death breathing crisis January 17, 2023 that I attributed to CIDP? -
Summary Log Living with both CIDP and Eagle Syndrome - an Astonishing diagnosis by a Dental Surgeon July 16, 2024 -
CIDP Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy Vs. Eagle Syndrome / Stylohoid Syndrome
v My CIDP 2024 with astonishing diagnosis of Eagle Syndrome: » March 06, 2024: Off all CIDP related drugs for a third year; only take 75 mg/day of Metoprolol for arrhythmia. My top ranked CIDP symptom is facial fasciculations, facial pain and dry mouth. My eyes "bubble like boiling water", especially when closed to sleep, as typical with other bodily CIDP fasciculations. I have found wearing a hoody at night the best solution and now I am able to manage the situation.
»March 06, 2024: I have no diagnosis for my facial pain but I am starting to wonder if the immunoglobulin IgG infusions I took for a decade is a factor. I think this because I had facial, neck and lips sores every time I infused. Could I have adhesions from tissue repair that interfered with my cranial nerves?
» July 16, 2024: a potential breakthrough on facial pain as I have a most likely diagnosis of "Eagle Syndrome", believe it or not after referral by my dentist!. Eagle's syndrome is a condition associated with the elongation of the styloid process or calcification of the stylohyoid ligament. Eagle Syndrome (also called Stylohyoid Syndrome) is caused by an elongated styloid process and/or calcified stylohyoid ligaments and could explain pretty much all my eye/head/face issues as it effects the cranial / vagus nerves and carotid arteries. The vagus is the longest cranial nerve and comprises both sensory and motor fibers. he vagus nerve functions contribute to the autonomic nervous system, which consists of the parasympathetic and sympathetic parts. Carotid-type Eagle syndrome involves compression of the carotid sheath, with pain in the eyes and visual disturbance being common. I am undergoing physiotherapy by a specialized head physiotherapist.
» August 02, 2024: I cancel the physiotherapy for Eagle Syndrome as I judge it counterproductive. After three weeks of physiotherapy I have increased pain and significantly more worrisome facial events such as nerve strikes. Maybe my CIDP cannot tolerate the movement. One such strike, August 04, 2024, causing severe pain in my left cheek then eye for several seconds.
» August 13, 2024: Doctor - a Dental Surgeon - confirms I have an elongated styloid process and calcified stylohyoid ligament. See panoramic x-ray showing my elongated styloid process Laser treatment for the Eagle Syndrome ES is suggested but I on reflection will reject the laser for pain approach as I suspect it will worsen my CIDP. The ES Dental Surgeon doctor himself question how much of my head & face symptoms are caused by Eagle Syndrome versus my CIDP?
» September 03, 2024: I decided to resume taking oxcarbazepine at very low dose of 100 mg per day, as I discovered it is also useful in the treatment of Eagle Syndrome. (I last took oxcarbazepine in October 2021 for a year to treat my mini-seizures), The drug also seemed then to dampen my fasciculations that act to amplify pain. BIG QUESTION: Does Eagle Syndrome cause mini-seizures, arrhythmia, and both eyeball fasciculations, fasciculations generally and most of my facial pain. And what about the really weird spontaneous jaw-snapping I logged on January 12, 2021: How will we determine CIDP versus Eagle Syndrome / elongated styloid causation?.
» September 12, 2024: I feel oxcarbazepine is helping even at the very low dose. In February 2022 I was taking 600 mg per day for my mini-seizures. I decide to increase the dose from 150 mg to 225 mg per day.
» October 02, 2024: An appointment with a key neurologist is fruitless when he tells me he did not know what Eagle Syndrome / elongated Styloid is! This is even though some of the symptoms he investigated could be caused by the syndrome. Shockingly, I am beginning to think I have a big problem in getting the help I urgently need in Canada.
Also see:
> My CIDP Since Going-Solo without CIDP Drugs February 18, 2021 - July 16, 2024
> Summary IgG Infusions Log Pre-February 2021
* "Cranial nerves VII to XII normal" My Emergency Dept visits March 2, 2021 and August 1, 2021. CT Scan August 1, 2021 reports "Cranial nerves VII to XII normal There was no observation on the condion of cranial berves I though VI that mostly operate the eyes. See the 12 cranial nerves-2023-12-21 for a desciption.
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Eagle’s syndrome, categorized initially by Dr. Watt Eagle, divides patients into two groups based on the structures compressed or irritated by the styloid complex. The classic form involves cranial nerves 5-tri geminal, 7-facial, 9-glossopharyngeal, and/or 10-vagus, and the vascular form involves the internal carotid artery (ICA), external carotid artery (ECA) (Eagle, 1948), periarterial sympathetic nerve plexus (Eagle, 1949), and more recently in the literature, the internal jugular vein (IJV) (Dashti et al., 2012).
Click for larger view of above image: Eagle-Syndrome-explained-Westbrook-2023
† Is Eagle Jugular Syndrome an Underestimated Potentially Life-Threatening Disease? In conclusion, we think that, amongst others, Eagle syndrome may result in compression and thrombosis of the jugular vein, thus causing life-threatening clinical manifestations, including cerebral venous thrombosis, as reported by Fu-Liang Zhang et al.,1 along with isolated, recurrent, pulmonary embolism events, the origin of which may be misdiagnosed. The dynamic exploration of the spatial relationship between elongated SPs and jugular veins though CTA and/or MRA may lead to a prompt diagnosis of this eventuality and to an effective treatment of these patients. Further investigations are needed to confirm or deny our hypothesis.
May 6, 2024: "One case of sudden death due to Eagle syndrome is also reported, caused by the mechanical irritation of the carotid sinus by an elongated styloid process with consequent acute cardiovascular failure"
There are four forms of Eagle Syndrome:
- Neuropathic Eagle Syndrome (NES) - or Classic Eagle Syndrome
- Carotid Eagle Syndrome (CES)
- Jugular Eagle Syndrome (JES)
- Compass Eagle Syndrome (CoES)
4 As descibed in Eagle syndrome: Lights and shadows of an underestimated condition of multidisciplinar interest
Brain MRI and neck MRA on admission. (A) Diffusion-weighted imaging revealed multiple small acute cerebral infarctions in the left parietal and insula cortex. (B) MRA shows a left-sided ICA occlusion distal to the carotid bifurcation. ICA: internal carotid artery
See references in "My Message to Doctors"
"*Apophysis is a secondary ossification center that fuses with the bone over time and attaches tendons or ligaments. Elongation of the styloid apophysis* may give rise to intense facial pain, headache, dysphagia, otalgia, buzzing sensations, and trismus.
Concepts for My CIDP log of CIDP versus Eagle Syndrome 2024: Eagle Syndrome, Stylohoid Syndrome, calcified, styloid, ligament, tendon,ossification, Neuropathic Eagle Syndrome NES or Classic Eagle Syndrome Carotid Eagle Syndrome CES CIDP pedagogic hallucination vagus nerve (VN), the principal component of the parasympathetic nervous system cidp mimicks Canada Eagle Syndrom ES doctors Dental Department Sunnybrook Hospital Toronto Canada