Glomus tumour of the back with a unique round-bottom flask-shaped lesion

A 36-year-old man was referred to us because of pain in the back that had begun 1  year previously. On examination, a 1-mm red nodule was present on the right upper back (Fig. 1). Although undetectable on ultrasonography, a 3-mm round mass with a vertically located cord-like lesion above the mass, presenting as a round-bottom flask-shaped lesion, was observed in the dermis 3  mm laterally from the nodule (Fig. 1,2A). The cord-like lesion was directed towards the red nodule. Magnetic resonance imaging also revealed a flask-shaped lesion (Fig. 2B). All the lesions were resected. Histologically, the nodule showed a tumour nest consisting of round cells without atypia in the dermis (Fig. 3). The flask-shaped lesion consisted of similar cells (Fig. 4A –C). Multiple vessels were seen within the lesion, as well as some vertically extending vessels with surrounding NSE-positive nerves (Fig. 4B and D). The tumour cells were positive for α-SMA (Fig. 4E). From these findings, glomus tumour (GT) was diagnosed. Although the histologic analyses revealed no continuity between the nodule and the flask-shaped lesion, the existence of the two lesions in a small area and the direction of the cord-like lesion towards the nodule suggested that they may be continuous.
Source: Japanese Journal of Clinical Oncology - Category: Cancer & Oncology Source Type: research