Objective:

To evaluate the tomographic characteristics of the mineralization of the stylohyoid process by volumetric computed tomography (CT).

Material and Methods:

reviewed 860 volumetric computed tomographies (593 correspond to the female sex and 267 to the male sex) of the Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology Service. The age range was between 6 to 89 years. The tomographic adequacy of the Langlais classification was used. The statistical analysis was performed using the chi-square test.

Results:

289 MPE were found, bilateral mineraliza-tion prevailed (68.86%). The arithmetic average length of the MPE was 39.54 mm. The frequency of MPE was 33.60% (289 cases). It was found more frequently in the age group of 40 to 49 years, there was no significant difference between the female and male sex (p = 0.5367). In the classification of Langlais the most frequent type was the segmented variants with 42.2%. The most frequent MPE pattern was the partially calcified variants with 58.8%.

Conclusions:

The frequency of the MPE was 33.60% and the TCV allows to identify this anatomical variation in a timely manner.

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