Glomus faciale, glomus jugulare, glomus tympanicum, glomus vagale, carotidbody tumors, and stimulating lesions - Role of MR imaging

Glomus complex tumors (paragangliomas) of the temporal bone are classified as either glomus jugulare or glomus tympanicum, depending on their sites of origin. Glomus jugulare tumors arise from the glomus bodies around the jug ular bulb and along the course of either Jacobson's nerve, the tympanic bra nch of the glossopharyngeal nerve or Arnold's nerve, the auricular branch o f the vagus nerve. Glomus tympanicum tumors arise from the glomus bodies al ong the course of Jacobson's nerve as it courses from the tympanic canalicu lus over the promontory. Glomus faciale tumors are another rare and interes ting type of paragangliomas of the temporal bone that arise from glomus bod ies along the course pf Arnold's nerve into the fallopian canal. Glomus vag ale tumors arise from glomus bodies at the bifurcation of the carotid arter y. It is the purpose of this article to present the magnetic resonance (MR) imaging characteristics of paragangliomas of the head and neck, to review the literature, and to provide a discussion on morphologic, histopathologic , and histochemical observations of catecholamine secreting and nonsecretin g paragangliomas.