Metastases from glomus jugulare tumours

Abstract

This review describes the features of glomus jugulare tumours with metastases. There were 100 sites of metastasis in the 53 cases previously reported. The sites of metastasis may be summarized as bone (33), lungs (23), lymph nodes (19), liver (nine) and other (16). Metastases presented up to 30 years after the initial treatment. The mean age of patients was 45 years and the sex ratio was approximately two females to one male, with no significant difference compared to non-metastatic tumours. There was a significantly higher incidence of pain and a significantly lower incidence of hearing loss at presentation compared to non-metastatic tumours. The commonest treatment was a combination of surgery and radiotherapy. The duration of symptoms before diagnosis was significantly shorter and the rates of persistent or recurrent local disease and death were significantly higher than for non-metastatic tumours. This review highlights the fact that glomus jugulare tumours are not always benign.

Bone metastases from head and neck paragangliomas: Uncommon MR findings in an uncommon condition—Report of three cases

“…The findings in our three patients indicate that MRI could be included in the staging of paraganglioma patients with risk factors for malignancy, such as vagal location (2,3), young age (14), or recurrent disease (4), and that the MR appearance of the bone metastatic deposits may be distinctive. However, the appropriate place for an exhaustive MR evaluation of the axial skeleton in staging has to be further discussed in the light of the natural history of bone metastases from paragangliomas, and the treatments that are available.…”

“…In a review of the literature from 1945 to 1995, Brewis et al (4) found that one-third of paraganglioma metastases were located in the bone, mainly in the vertebrae and ribs.…”

Radiosurgery for glomus jugulare: history and recent progress

“…33,34 Although the commanding majority of glomus jugulare tumors are benign, a small fraction are metastatic. Brewis et al 4 estimated that between 1 and 4% of all glomus jugulare tumors are metastatic, although they note that this may be an overestimate due to preferential reporting of metastatic cases and to clinicians misidentifying benign multicentric glomus jugulare tumors as metastatic.…”

Successful treatment of glomus jugulare tumours with gamma knife radiosurgery: clinical and physical aspects of management and review of the literature

“…They can also be associated with the tympanic branch of the glossopharyngeal nerve (Jacobson nerve) or the auricular branch of the vagus nerve (Arnold nerve) [2]. Although these are indolent hypervascular tumours, they can be associated with metastatic spread in 1-5% of cases [3]. The growth rate is typically very slow, approximately 0.8 mm per year; however, the pattern of growth is often associated with compression and infi ltration of adjacent bone, cranial nerves and/or blood vessels.…”