Extramural recurrence of tracheal glomus tumour following resection by rigid bronchoscopy

Glomus tumour of the trachea is very rare neoplasm that is generally benign and arises most commonly from the distal portion of the respiratory tree. This report presents the case of a 67-year-old man who was referred to our institute for excision of a tracheal mass that had been found incidentally, and subsequently recurred extramurally. Initial contrast-enhanced computed tomography images of the chest revealed a nodular lesion in the trachea, 2.5 cm above the carina, that demonstrated strong enhancement similar to blood vessels. The tumour was excised by rigid bronchoscopy, but an extramural tracheal lesion was detected 18 months later. Tracheal resection and end-to-end anastomosis were performed, and histopathological examination confirmed the extramural lesion as recurrence of the tracheal glomus tumour. The histologic features and treatment are discussed.