Biometry and statistical analysis of the styloid process.

The hyoid apparatus is made up of three osteocartilaginous elements that go from the base of the cranium to the hyoid bone; the portions, cranially to caudally, are as follow: stylohyal, ceratohyal, and apohyal. Fusion and ossification of these three components will bring about somewhat long stylohyoid processes, whereas the stylohyal portion is the one that gives rise to the authentic stylohyoid process. The variability of the hyoid apparatus may imply associated compressive pathologies, for which an etiological diagnosis is important. A study was undertaken of 835 craniums of a homogeneous male and female adult population, involving a morphometric analysis of the styloid processes in which quantification was made of the following continual descriptive measurements: thickness, length, sagittal angle, transversal angle, and the distance between vertices. Multivariate data analysis techniques were applied to the data set to describe the relationships between these measurements. The main conclusion from the analysis is the existence of two different groups of styloid processes and the derivation of a prediction score.