A middle-aged woman’s decade-long battle with chronic facial and neck pain was eventually put down to a rare and elusive condition known as Eagle syndrome, Greek doctors report.

The syndrome — named after Dr Watt Eagle, who first described it in 1937, rather than the bird of prey — is caused by an elongated styloid process or a calcified stylohyoid ligament.

In the present case, the otherwise healthy 56-year-old patient presented to ED with mild shoulder and abdominal pain after stumbling and falling on the right side of her body.

There was no head injury, her initial vital signs were normal, and her past medical history was unremarkable.