Scientific articleThe Association Between Glomus Tumors and Neurofibromatosis
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Materials and Methods
After we obtained approval from our institutional review board, we used the institution's pathology database to create a case cohort consisting of all patients who had undergone excision of a glomus tumor of the hand or wrist between 1995 and 2010. We created a control cohort of referent patients by randomly selecting 200 patients who had undergone excision of a hand or wrist ganglion over the same period.
In both cohorts, we reviewed existing patient records including inpatient notes,
Results
A total of 21 patients who underwent excision of a glomus tumor of the hand or wrist from 1995 through 2010 were identified and were included in the case cohort. A review of their existing records showed that the glomus tumors were diagnosed preoperatively by history and physical examination in all but 1 patient and confirmed postoperatively by pathology. In 1 patient, a glomus tumor was not suspected preoperatively, but was identified postoperatively by pathology. Chart review revealed that 6
Discussion
Although glomus tumors have not historically been associated with other disease processes, a number of case reports in the literature suggest an association with neurofibromatosis. Neurofibromatosis is an autosomal dominant disease affecting neural crest cells and has been classified into 2 types (Table 3). Neurofibromatosis type 1 is the most common form and affects approximately 1 in 3,500 people.23 It has multiple clinical findings, but its most notable feature is the presence of cutaneous
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