Tuberc Respir Dis.  2007 Aug;63(2):183-187. 10.4046/trd.2007.63.2.183.

A Glomus Tumor of the Trachea

• Lee SM
• Lee JH
• Hwang JJ
• Lee SA
• Lee JG
• Kim WS
• Han HS
• Lee TH
• Yoo GH
• Lee KY

• KMID: 1910098
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4046/trd.2007.63.2.183

Abstract

A glomus tumor is composed of modified smooth muscle cells that are similar to those of the glomus body. Its occurrence in the trachea is quite rare. To our knowledge, only 20 cases of glomus tumor of the trachea have been reported worldwide and there has been only 1 case in Korea. We report one case of a 58-year-old man with dyspnea who had a glomus tumor in the upper trachea with a review of literatures. The chest CT scan and bronchoscopy demonstrated a 2.5 cm sized lobulated tumor at the posterior wall of the upper trachea. It had an elongated shape with a broad base and with a highly vascularity. A simple resection of 3 levels of the trachearing was with a tumor and end-to-end anastomosis performed. Microscopic and immunohistochemical staining of the tumor revealed the characteristics of a glomus tumor.

Keyword

Glomus tumor; Trachea

MeSH Terms

Bronchoscopy
Dyspnea
Glomus Tumor*
Humans
Korea
Middle Aged
Myocytes, Smooth Muscle
Tomography, X-Ray Computed
Trachea*

Figure

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  Figure 1 The chest CT scan shows about a 2.5 cm sized, well-enhanced lobulated tumor at the posterior wall of upper trachea. The tumor extended posterior tracheal wall to extraluminal connective tissue, but is well demarcated.

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  Figure 2 This virtual bronchoscopic view of the trachea directed from the level of the thoracic inlet shows the lobulated tumor arising from the posterior wall of upper trachea.

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  Figure 3 The bronchoscopic view shows the lobulated tumor similar to virtual bronchoscopic view.

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  Figure 4 Resected tracheal specimen from the patient is located at membranous portion of tracheal ring.

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  Figure 5 The tumor consists of sheets of uniform round or polygonal cells surrounding vascular channels(H&E stain, ×100).

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  Figure 6 Immunohistochemical stain demonstrates that the tumor cells are strongly and diffusely positive for smooth muscle actin(SMA)(SMA stain, ×200).

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