Progressive facial paralysis secondary to a rare temporal bone tumor: Glomus faciale

Paragangliomas are slow-growing benign neoplasms arising from foci of neural crest-derived chemoreceptor tissue, paraganglia. Paragangliomas are most often discovered based on mass effect on nearby structures and are rarely functional outside of the adrenal gland. In the head and neck, paraganglia most commonly reside at the carotid bifurcation, the inferior ganglion region or cervical portion of the vagus nerve, the jugular bulb, and the middle ear cavity; thus, most are discovered in these locations.¹ In the skull base, paraganglia in the area of the jugular bulb and along the cochlear promontory make glomus tympanicum and glomus jugulare the most frequently encountered paragangliomas. Although these 2 tumors are relatively common in the temporal bone, a primary paraganglioma of the fallopian canal, or glomus faciale, is rare. In fact, to our knowledge, only 8 reports exist.^1-8 We describe the presentation, workup, and treatment of the ninth report in the literature.