Glomangiopericytoma is a rare tumor entity that arises from the sinonasal tract, and accounts for less than 0.5% of all sinonasal tumors. This tumor originates from the capillary pericytes, and generally exhibits borderline to low-grade malignant biological characteristics. Herein, we report a case of glomangiopericytoma of the nasal cavity that showed positive accumulation on 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography (FDG-PET).
An 85-year-old male patient presented with a 1-month history of repeated right-sided epistaxis. Physical and endoscopic examinations revealed a soft, reddish, hemorrhagic mass in the olfactory cleft of the right nasal cavity. Computed tomography visualized a well-defined, moderately-enhanced mass in the upper posterior part of the right nasal cavity. The lesion showed positive accumulation on FDG-PET, with an SUVmax of 6.12. Biopsy of the mass was performed, and the histopathological diagnosis was glomangiopericytoma with borderline malignancy. The patient was treated by transnasal endoscopic resection of the tumor. The intraoperative blood loss was 50 ml. The postoperative clinical course was uneventful, and the patient was discharged 6 days after surgery. He has been free from disease for 10 months since the surgery.
Positive accumulation on FDG-PET has been documented in several previous case reports of glomangiopericytoma. Physicians should be aware that glomangiopericytoma could exhibit accumulation on FDG-PET despite showing only borderline to low-grade malignant biological properties.
