• The Journal of the Korean bone and joint tumor society
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.34-43
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• 2009

Purpose: Glomus tumors are rare benign vascular tumors, usually located in the skin or soft tissue of extremities. Approximately 30-50% of glomus tumors occur in subungal area, but glomus tumors have been described in every location even where glomus bodies are not or rarely present. The purpose of this study was to identify clinical, histologic and MRI characteristics of soft tissue glomus tumor. Materials and Methods: Between 1993 and 2008, eight patients underwent surgery of soft tissue Glomus tumor at our institution. Exclusion criteria were patients with Glomus tumors in digits, stomach, trachea and glomus tympanicum. We analyzed medical records, interviews, physical examinations, MR findings and histolocial types retrospectively. Results: There were four men and four women. The mean age was fourty-seven years. The mean prevalence time was eight-point-nine years. In the classic triad of symptoms, all eight patients had pain and tenderness. Two patients complained of cold sensitivity. Two showed skin color changes. After surgery, two showed symptom improvement (VAS $9^{\circ}{\rightarrow}8$, $8^{\circ}{\rightarrow}5$) and?six showed complete disappearance of symptoms. Slightly symptom improvemented (VAS $9^{\circ}{\rightarrow}8$) one had additional surgery two times after first surgery due to relapse/remaining Glomus tumor. The mean size was 13.9 mm. In histology, six were 'solid glomus tumor', one was a mixture of 'solid glomus tumor' and 'lomangioma' and one was 'malignant glomus tumor'. MR findings showed isointense signal on T1 image, high signal on T2 image and strong enhancement on the Gadolinium enhanced image. Conclusion: Glomus tumor has low recurrence rate and malignant change, rapid diagnosis and surgical excision is critical in treatment to prevent unnecessary pain of patient.