Intraosseous glomus tumor of the great toe: a case report with review of the literature.

Abstract

We report a case of intraosseous glomus tumor that presented as a painful lesion in the distal phalanx of the left great toe in a 21-year-old male. The radiographic appearance showed a well-circumscribed osteolytic lesion, and histological examination revealed solid nests of polygonal cells surrounding branching vasculatures consistent with a glomus tumor. Partial toe amputation resulted in complete alleviation of the patient's pain. Although glomus tumors commonly occur in the distal soft tissue of the extremities, they very rarely localize to bone. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first published report of a case of intraosseous glomus tumor localized to the toe.