A Case of Glomus Tympanicum During Stapedotomy Surgery for Otosclerosis.
Paragangliomas are benign tumors of neural crest origin arising from paraganglia cells and occur most often in the temporal bone and neck.
They are referred to according to their site of origin in the glomus jugular, tympanicum, carotid body, or vagale.
Glomus tympanicum is highly vascular tumor and arises from the paraganglia of the middle ear usually originating along the tympanic or auricular nerves.
Glomus that arise from the Jacobson nerve originate at the cochlear promontory and surgical treatment is the treatment of choice. It is the most common primary neoplasm of the middle ear, and the second most common tumor of the temporal bone.
Early stage paragangliomas present with symptoms related to the involvement of the middle ear.
Unilateral pulsatile tinnitus and conductive hearing loss due to its highly vascular nature and mass effect in the middle ear are usually present. Glomus tympanicum is seen as a retrotympanic red mass on the promontory.
The management involves a particular challenge because of the hypervascular nature. The therapeutic goal is to control the disease with minimal resulting morbility.
The following case report description was authorized by the patient. We present the case of a 66-year-old female patient presented to us with a history of progressive, diminished, left-sided hearing of more than 20-years. There was no history of ear discharge, ear pain, or any other symptoms.
Clinical examination revealed a normal external ear canal and healthy tympanic membrane bilaterally. Turning fork test revealed a conductive hearing loss of the left ear. Pure tone audiometry revealed a mild to severe mixed hearing loss pattern mainly conductive, in the left ear.
The mass was completely removed and was sent to pathology to assess the histological nature.
Otolaryngol Open J. 2021; 7(1): 1-3. doi: 10.17140/OTLOJ-7-162
