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Glomus Jugulare Tumor
What You Should Know About Glomus Jugulare Tumor
General Information
- Arising from the glomus bodies located within the ear, they are the most common tumors of the middle ear.
- These tumors are slow-growing and very vascular, with blood supply from the external carotid artery and internal carotid artery.
- These tumors are most common in women.
Symptoms
- Symptoms include hearing loss with pulsing ringing in the ear, dizziness and ear pain.
- Physical exam will find hearing loss and abnormalities of the cranial nerves that control swallowing, gagging, shoulder shrugging and tongue movements
- When the eardrum is examined, a red/blue pulsing mass can often be seen.
Diagnosis
- These tumors are diagnosed by neurophysiological testing, and computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
- In addition, an endocrine work-up and urine tests should be performed.
Treatment
- Medical therapy
- For tumors that actively secrete hormones and neurotransmitters, medical therapy can ease the symptom and be useful prior to surgery.
- Alpha and beta blockers are given before surgery to block possibly lethal blood pressure abnormalities and heart arrhythmias.
- Surgery
- These tumors are very vascular; therefore, pre-operative blockage of the blood supply to the tumor is often performed.
- Possible complications of surgery include persistent leakage of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from the ear, and also damage to one of the nerves controlling face movement, sensation or hearing.
- Even though the surgery may be successful glomus jugulare tumors are somewhat problematic because they have a high recurrence rate and may require multiple operations.
- Radiation
- Radiation may relieve symptoms and stop growth in spite of persistent tumor mass.
