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Background:As elongated styloid process is one of the causes of recurrent oropharyngeal pain and carotid nerve plexus compression called Eagle's syndrome and this length is not similar in different communities, the aim of the current study is to determine average length of styloid process by paranasal multidetector computed tomography.Materials and Methods:This is a retrospective cross-sectional study about 393 patients who underwent paranasal MDCT scan for trauma in Radiology Department without pathologic finding. Styloid length from temporal bone junction to tip of the process was measured using Workstation software. Demographic data including age, sex, and height were gathered from the patients' records, and patients were questioned about symptoms of Eagle's syndrome before trauma. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 20 with the methods of t-test, Chi-square, and ANOVA. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results:Two-hundred and sixteen males and 177 females underwent MDCT. The length of right, left, and mean length of both sides were 25.4 ± 7.3, 25.2 ± 7.8, 25.3 ± 7.1, respectively. The mean length of both sides' process was more among male that was statistically significant (P = 0.025 and 0.043, respectively). Right and left side styloid process' higher length was in correlation with patient's height (P = 0.002, r = 0.153, P = 0.029, r = 0.110, respectively) and number of symptoms (P < 0.001, r = 0.300, P < 0.001, r = 0.334, respectively).Conclusion:The mean length of styloid process was 25.3 ± 7.1 that was in accordance with some studies and different from others. Styloid process length is higher in males. The length of styloid process is in association with height and number of symptoms as well.

SummaryBackgroundThere are controversies regarding the usefulness of coronary artery calcium score (CACS) for predicting coronary artery stenosis. The aim of this study was to determine the prognostic value of CACS for determining the presence and severity of coronary artery disease (CAD) in patients with sign and symptoms of the disease.Material/MethodsIn this cross-sectional study, 748 consecutive patients with suspected CAD, referred for coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA), were enrolled. The mean CACS was compared between patients with different severities of coronary artery stenosis. The association between CACS and different CAD risk factors was determined as well. Different cutoff points of CACS for discriminating between different levels of coronary artery stenosis was determined using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves.ResultsThe mean CACS was significantly different between different levels of coronary artery stenosis (P<0.001) and there was a significant positive association between the severity of CAD and CACS (P<0.001,r=0.781). ROC curve analysis indicated that the optimal cutoff point for discriminating between CAD (presence of stenosis) and the non-stenosis condition was 5.35 with 88.6% sensitivity and 86.2% specificity. Area under the curve for different levels of coronary artery stenosis did not have sufficient sensitivity and specificity for discriminating between different levels of CAD severity (<70%).ConclusionsThe study demonstrated that there is a significant association between CACS and the presence as well as the severity of CAD. CACS could have an appropriate prognostic value for the determination of coronary artery stenosis but not for discriminating between different severities of stenoses.