GLOMUS TUMOURS

Abstract

Glomus tumours of the temporal bone occur in the region of the jugular bulb and middle ear. They
are rare, highly vascular, slow growing tumours and most are benign. Tumours that originate from the jugular bulb and
extend to involve the middle ear are referred to as glomus jugulare tumours. Those that are found in the middle ear
around the otic ganglia in the tympanic plexus are known as Glomus tympanicum. These tumours occur predominantly
in women in the fifth and sixth decades of life. Because of the insidious onset of symptoms, these tumours often go
unnoticed and there is often a significant delay in diagnosis. Morbidity in these cases is determined by their size and
position. Objectives: 1. To study the age/sex incidence of patients suffering from glomus tumours of the temporal
bone. 2. To see various clinical presentations with which these tumours present and their variation according to the
age and sex. Design: Our study design was non-inter-ventional descriptive. Settings: This study was performed at
CMH Rawalpindi and Multan from January 2000 to June 2002. Subjects: We included ten patients of glomus tumours
of the temporal bone in our study. 8 out of these were females and two were males. Though most of the patients
belonged to middle age group yet few were also from the younger and older groups. Interventions: All the patients
underwent CT scan with and without contrast, MRI of the requisite site and carotid angiography. Results: We found
that these tumours were predominantly present in females, mostly in the middle age group. Individual symptoms were
studied in detail and their presence was found to be directly proportional to the increasing age of patients. Conclusion:
It is concluded that due to the slow growth of this tumour the diagnosis is often delayed until it is extensive. Therefore
clinicians should be more vigilant about this rare disease and must keep it in their differentials.