Glomus tumour masquerading as an aural polyp in chronic middle ear disease: a case report

ABSTRACT

Paraganglioma is an uncommon benign tumour of the temporal bones. It usually causes pulsatile tinnitus, recurrent ear bleeds, deafness or facial palsy and is rarely associated with chronic suppurative otitis media [CSOM]. The latter may lead to false histopathological findings. We present an unusual case of a 45-year-old female with a right ear glomus tumour that was associated with CSOM and a large polyp protruding from the auditory canal. Despite preoperative investigations including computed tomography, diagnosis of the tumour could not be established. After taking a biopsy, a curative operation had to be abandoned because of a torrential intra-operative haemorrhage. The initial biopsy report suggested cholesteatoma; however, further histopathological studies including S-100 protein immune-staining revealed it to be paraganglioma. Large aural polyps and granulation tissues in CSOM can mask the characteristic histopathological features of these vascular tumours. We recommend including glomus tumour in the differential diagnosis of similar cases and performing optimum preoperative radiological investigations and immunological staining to confirm the diagnosis