Review on glomus tumor of the temporal bone

Abstract

Glomus tumor is the second most common neoplasm of the temporal bone. The male to female ratio for such tumor would be one to five. The tumor is also known as Chemodectoma. About ten percent of the cases with such tumors are familial ones and the majority of the cases are sporadic. Glomus tumor is rarely functional and malignant in nature. Neuroendocrine system’s chemoreceptor cells are the origin of glomus tumor.1,2 Mitochondrial DNA encoding for succinyl dehydrogenase subunit’s C, D or B or mitochondrial complex II genetic defect, can be seen in the familial cases.