Glomangioma of the elbow

Abstract

We present a patient with a painful, mobile nodule on the elbow. The nodule was skin-colored and had no punctum or discharge. It was excised and histopathology showed that the lesion was a glomangioma, or glomuvenous malformation. This is a neoplasm that arises from the glomus body, a thermoregulatory neurovascular structure. The glomus body is composed of glomus cells, vascular cells, and smooth muscle cells. Three subtypes of neoplasms may arise from the glomus body, depending on the extent to which they involve the three types of cells. They include glomus tumors, glomangiomas/glomuvenous malformations, and glomangiomyomas. This case was unusual in that it did not present with surface color change to indicate a vascular component.