Glomic tumor of the nasal septum

Abstract

We present the clinical case of a 58-year-old woman who consulted for episodes of self-li- mited epistaxis in the right nostril associated with hypersensitivity to manipulation of this nostril. Examination revealed a nodular mucosal lesion in the nasal septum, with a hard consistency and purplish appearance. The lesion was excised endonasally, with histopatho- logical result of a glomus tumor (GT) of the nasal septum. The GT is a benign perivascular neoplasm, derived from smooth muscle cells present in the glomus body; structure with thermoregulatory function, formed by a shunt between arterioles and venules, without the presence of capillary network. Glomus bodies are mostly present in the extremities (nail bed). Glomus tumors are truly exceptional in the ENT area, with only about thirty cases pu- blished to date at the nasosinusal level. Most cases occur between the 5th and 6th decade of life and more frequently in women. It raises differential diagnosis fundamentally with two entities: paraganglioma (with which it should not be confused from the terminological or histological point of view) and with solitary fibrous tumor (former hemangiopericytoma). The behavior is benign and the treatment is surgery.