Nasal glomangiomyoma: a case report and review of superficial facial glomus tumors
- 1Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Clinical Medicine, Clinic of Rheumatology, Orthopedics, Traumatology and Reconstructive Surgery, Vilnius University , ,
- 2Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius University , ,
- 3Vilnius University Hospital Santaros Klinikos, National Center of Pathology , ,
Abstract
Glomus tumors are uncommon pericytic neoplasms that most frequently occur in the subungual regions of the extremities, while superficial facial localization is rare and may present a diagnostic challenge. We report a nasal glomangiomyoma in a 63-year-old woman presenting as a painless, slowly enlarging subcutaneous mass of the upper right nasal sidewall that was clinically suspected to represent a lipoma. The lesion was completely excised, with the closest resection margin free of tumor at a microscopic clearance of 0.5 mm. Histopathological examination demonstrated vascular spaces surrounded by uniform epithelioid glomus cells together with fascicles of elongated spindle cells showing smooth-muscle differentiation and a gradual morphological transition between the two components. Immunohistochemically, the glomus cells expressed smooth muscle actin, while the smooth-muscle component showed strong desmin positivity; proliferative activity was low. These findings supported the diagnosis of glomangiomyoma. No clinical evidence of recurrence was observed at 6-month follow-up. A focused review of the literature identified a limited number of reported superficial facial glomus tumors, many of which presented without the characteristic pain associated with digital lesions. This case highlights that glomus tumors should be considered in the differential diagnosis of persistent superficial facial nodules, including clinically benign-appearing lesions, and emphasizes the importance of histopathological evaluation for definitive diagnosis and appropriate classification.
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BibTeX
@article{kindurytėsepetienė2026nasal,
title = {{Nasal glomangiomyoma: a case report and review of superficial facial glomus tumors}},
author = {Austėja Kindurytė-Šepetienė and Patricija Glovackaitė and Dominykas Markevičius and Evelina Šidlovska and Giedrė Stundžaitė-Baršauskienė and Nerijus Jakutis},
journal = {Frontiers in medicine},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3389/fmed.2026.1960678},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13724439},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Nasal glomangiomyoma: a case report and review of superficial facial glomus tumors
AU - Austėja Kindurytė-Šepetienė
AU - Patricija Glovackaitė
AU - Dominykas Markevičius
AU - Evelina Šidlovska
AU - Giedrė Stundžaitė-Baršauskienė
AU - Nerijus Jakutis
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/19
JO - Frontiers in medicine
DO - 10.3389/fmed.2026.1960678
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13724439
AB - Glomus tumors are uncommon pericytic neoplasms that most frequently occur in the subungual regions of the extremities, while superficial facial localization is rare and may present a diagnostic challenge. We report a nasal glomangiomyoma in a 63-year-old woman presenting as a painless, slowly enlarging subcutaneous mass of the upper right nasal sidewall that was clinically suspected to represent a lipoma. The lesion was completely excised, with the closest resection margin free of tumor at a microscopic clearance of 0.5 mm. Histopathological examination demonstrated vascular spaces surrounded by uniform epithelioid glomus cells together with fascicles of elongated spindle cells showing smooth-muscle differentiation and a gradual morphological transition between the two components. Immunohistochemically, the glomus cells expressed smooth muscle actin, while the smooth-muscle component showed strong desmin positivity; proliferative activity was low. These findings supported the diagnosis of glomangiomyoma. No clinical evidence of recurrence was observed at 6-month follow-up. A focused review of the literature identified a limited number of reported superficial facial glomus tumors, many of which presented without the characteristic pain associated with digital lesions. This case highlights that glomus tumors should be considered in the differential diagnosis of persistent superficial facial nodules, including clinically benign-appearing lesions, and emphasizes the importance of histopathological evaluation for definitive diagnosis and appropriate classification.
SN - 2296-858X
ER -