Glomus Jugulare Tumor Metastatic to the Sacrum after High-dose Radiation Therapy

Abstract

A 47-year-old woman with left ear pain and hearing loss was diagnosed with a glomus jugulare tumor for which she received radiation therapy as the primary treatment. Over a period of 20 years, she developed temporal bone necrosis, brain stem calcifications, local tumor recurrence, and eventually metastases to her lungs and sacrum. This case underscores the often indolent nature of glomus jugulare tumors, the late sequelae of radiation therapy for benign intracranial tumors, and the potential of these tumors to metastasize. This patient's history suggests that aggressive surgical resection should be considered early for such tumors, particularly because radiation treatment does not ablate the tumor. This is only the second reported case of a glomus jugulare tumor metastatic to the sacrum.