Intranasal Glomus Tumor

Abstract

\s=b\ The glomus tumor, or glomangioma, is a hyperplastic or hamartomatous lesion of the glomus body. It is composed of vascular channels surrounded by characteristic "epithelioid" cells, which are probably derived from smooth muscle. Glomus tumors rarely occur in the head and neck. We encountered the fifth documented case, to our knowledge, of a glomus tumor presenting in the nasal cavity. Although the lesion in this case was asymptomatic, intranasal glomus tumors producing nasal obstruction, pain, and epistaxis have been described. The complete excision of a glomus tumor normally cures the condition. (Arch Otolaryngol 1984;110:755-756)

Paraganglioma of nose: a common tumor, rare site

“…Regarding the location of this tumor in the nasal cavity, it is worth mentioning that in the first 3 cases described in the literature, the source of the tumor was the nasal septum. 5 Tumors originating from the inferior turbinate and the posterior portion of the choana have also been described. 6 In our case tumor was occupying the right nasal cavity from the foyer to the nasopharynx.…”

Glomangioma of the Nasal Cavity

“…The incidence of glomangiomas in comparison to all soft tissue tumors of the extremities is 1.6% [12] and to all epithelial tumors of the nasal cavity, paranasal sinuses or nasopharynx 0.4% [ 13]. [ 19] 1979 M/24 septum obstruction none Potter et al [22] 1984 F/81 septum asymptomatic none Morais [20] 1986 M/66 nasal vestibulum asymptomatic none Alarcos [17] 1992 Although these tumors are benign, there is a local recurrence rate of 10%. Recurrence is caused by incom plete excision of the glomangioma and can be interpreted as residual tumorous tissue in situ.…”

“…Eight cases of intranasal glomangioma have so far been documented in the literature [13,14,[17][18][19][20][21][22] (table 1 ). In 3 cases the intranasal glomangioma originated at the sep tum [13,19,22] in 2 at the inferior concha [21] or nasal vestibulum [14,20] and in 1 case at the posterior choana [ 18] or the ethmoidal fossa involving the nasal fossa [ 17].…”

Quiz Case

“…4 The term glomus tumor is often erroneously used in the literature to describe the nonchromaffin paraganglioma, which is derived from the neural crest, arises from the extra-adrenal paraganglia, includes lesions such as glomus jugulare and glomus tympanicum, and bears no relationship to the glomus tumor described herein. 5 These 2 lesions, the paraganglioma and the glomus tumor, are immunologically and histologically distinct, but are often confused owing to their highly vascular nature. 4 One may see the terms glomangioma and glomus tumor used interchangeably; however, glomangioma refers to a subtype or variant of the glomus tumor.…”