Giant Cell Tumor of the Lateral Skull Base: A Case Report

Abstract

Giant cell tumors of the temporal bone are very rare lesions. They should be differentiated from other giant cell lesions of bone, mainly reparative granulomas. A case with a very huge giant cell tumor of the temporal bone extending to the infratemporal fossa, temporomandibular joint, and greater wing of the sphenoid has been presented. Because of their tendency for recurrence, total removal is the treatment of choice for these tumors and was accomplished through the infratemporal fossa approach type B. A follow-up of 2 years and 9 months revealed no evidence of tumor recurrence.

Giant cell tumor of the temporal bone with intratumoral hemorrhage

“…1,6,7 On reviewing the available literature, some individual cases were excluded according to the reclassification of giant cell reparative granuloma (GCRG) by Hirschl and Katz in 1974. 8 One hundred and ten GCTs of the skull, including Mayo's series, 10 reviews 3,5,7,[9][10][11][12][13][14][15] and cases reported by otorhinologists, [16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24] showed that the sphenoid (52 cases) and temporal bones (40 cases) were the most common sites in the skull. GCTs involving the cranial vault (18 cases) are much rarer, and sometimes occur in association with Paget's disease.…”

“…Because most data on GCTs of the skull have been obtained from case reports, their precise biological behavior is still unclear. A review of 17 individual case reports in which MRI was performed, 7,17,20,23,26,28,29,[36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44] revealed that 64.7% (11/17 cases) of GCT of the skull had hypointense regions associated with pathological hemosiderin deposition on T 1 -or T 2 -weighted images. This hemorrhagic behavior has quite a high rate of occurrence, although GCT is basically a benign neoplasm.…”

Giant Cell Tumor of Bone Involving the Temporomandibular Joint and Temporal Bone

“…[6][7][8][9] Giant cell tumor most commonly develops from the sphenoid bone and secondly from the temporal bone. 1,5,7,8 Sphenoid and temporal bones resemble long bones with respect to endochondral ossification. Giant cell tumor is rather rare in the temporomandibular joint.…”

Giant cell tumour (osteoclastoma) of the zygoma: An extremely unusual neoplasm

“…It is a rare bony lesion accounting for only 4% of all primary tumours of bone [2]. Bones that have their origin in the cartilage more commonly develop this tumour than those developing in membrane [3].…”

“…These tumours involve the long bones in 75 Á/90% of all cases [4]. Only 2% of giant cell tumours arise in the head and neck [2]. In the head and neck, temporal, sphenoid and ethmoid bones are characteristically involved [5].…”