Glomus tumour
Glomus tumours, also known as glomangioma, are painful, perivascular tumour that are classically periungual.
It should not be confused with paraganglioma, which were once called glomus tumour.
This tumour is classified as a perivascular tumour (also pericytic tumour) which is a subset of soft tissue tumours.
General
- Tumour derived from smooth muscle cell.[1]
- Usually benign.
- Malignant variant exists - extremely rare.
Clinical:
- Painful skin lesion.
- Location: classically periungual (around the nail).
- Reported in almost very site imaginable.
Microscopic
Features:[2]
- Sheets of equally-spaced cells ("cookie cutter appearance") - key feature.
- Polygonal cells with identifiable cellular borders.
- Thin-walled blood vessels.
- May vaguely resemble antlers (staghorn vessels).
- Moderate clear cytoplasm.
Notes:
- No significant nuclear atypia.
- The regular cell spacing is called "cookie cutter appearance". It looks like the cells were created with a cookie cutter; the spacing between cell is equal and they all look very similar.
Images:
- Glomus tumour - intermed. mag. (WC).
- Glomus tumour - very high mag. (WC).
- Glomus tumour (ouhsc.edu).
IHC
Features:[3]
- SMA +ve ~ 100%.
- Desmin usu. -ve.
- CD34 -ve.
- Rarely +ve.
Others:
- S100 -ve.
Other diagnoses...
Why it is not a(n) ...[2]
- Angiosarcoma - has nuclear atypia.
- Dermatofibroma - spindle cell lesion.
- Capillary hemangioma - no epithelioid cells, more blood vessels.
See also
- Painful skin lesions.
- Myopericytoma - the other perivascular (soft tissue) tumour.
References
- ↑ Gombos Z, Zhang PJ (September 2008). "Glomus tumor". Arch. Pathol. Lab. Med. 132 (9): 1448–52. doi:10.1043/1543-2165(2008)132[1448:GT]2.0.CO;2. PMID 18788860.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 URL: http://moon.ouhsc.edu/kfung/jty1/opaq/PathQuiz/Z0B003-PQ01-M.htm. Accessed on: 19 October 2010.
- ↑ Hatori M, Aiba S, Kato M, Kamiya N, Kokubun S (July 1997). "Expression of CD34 in glomus tumors". Tohoku J. Exp. Med. 182 (3): 241–7. PMID 9362106.