Glomus Vagale of the Parapharyngeal Space: Working toward a Simplified Treatment Paradigm

Abstract

Background Parapharyngeal space (PPS) glomus vagale (GV) are exceptionally rare, benign, post-styloid tumors that arise from neoplastic non-chromaffin paraganglion cells of the vagus nerve. As compared with their more common counterparts, GV represent less than 3% of all head-and-neck paragangliomas, with fewer still arising in the PPS. Correspondingly, we sought to describe their natural history and optimal management in a large, single-institution series.