What is a Glomus Tumor?
Glomus tumors — also known as paragangliomas — of the head and neck are benign (noncancerous) but locally invasive tumors that arise from glomus cells.
In the head and neck, glomus tumor tissue is found in the jugular bulb, middle ear, and carotid artery. Of these sites, tumors are most common in the jugular bulb, which is a region of the jugular vein positioned immediately below the middle ear. These glomus tumors may grow into the middle ear and brain.
Tumors originating in glomus cells of the middle ear are called glomus tympanicum tumors. Glomus tympanicum tumors are the most common vascular tumors of the middle ear.
Glomus tumors may also arise in deep neck (parapharyngeal) space along the course of the vagus nerve. These are called glomus vagale tumors.
Glomus tumors are highly vascular and usually solitary.
Because they are usually benign and slow-growing, mortality rates are low (less than 15 percent). However, their growth can cause significant damage to surrounding tissue and nerves.
Common symptoms of glomus tumors are hearing loss and facial palsies.
At UPMC, the preferred treatment is a transmastoid surgical approach to remove the tumor.
In addition, Gamma Knife® radiosurgery may be used as the first treatment option or as an additional treatment after surgery.
Gamma Knife radiosurgery is a painless procedure that uses hundreds of highly focused radiation beams to target tumors and lesions within the brain, with no surgical incision.