Hyoid bone syndrome is a disease caused by an abnormality in the apparatus hyoideus, indicated by a variety of symptoms such as a feeling of discomfort in the pharyngolarynx, neck pain, a clicking sound when twisting the neck, etc. We report on two cases of hyoid bone syndrome accompanying an excessively long greater cornu of the hyoid bone.
Case 1 consulted the hospital with the excessively long of discomfort when swallowing along with a clicking sound when swallowing from several years prior. The greater cornu of the hyoid bone on both sides was found to be long upon neck CT, in addition to approaching the transverse process of the fourth cervical vertebra. Case 2 became aware of neck pain from 1 year prior and consulted the hospital due to exacerbation of the symptoms. The excessively long greater cornu of the hyoid bone was observed on both sides of neck on CT imaging, with the greater cornu of the hyoid bone approaching the transverse process of the third cervical vertebra. From the above, the patient was diagnosed with hyoid bone syndrome accompanying an excessively long greater cornu of the hyoid bone on both sides, with prominent improvement in symptoms observed when partial resection of the bilateral greater cornu of the hyoid bone was carried out, yielding good results.
Although such cases may be diagnosed as pharyngolaryngeal paresthesia, when symptoms are observed over a long period of time and the complaint is strong and clear, an in-depth examination including imaging testing is required. Moreover, it was believed that resection of the greater cornu of the hyoid bone is a useful treatment for hyoid bone syndrome.
