Vol.96 No.2 contentsPRACTICA OTO-RHINO-LARYNGOLOGICA
Vol. 96 No. 2 February 2003
Giant Cell Tumor of the Temporal Bone
Takao Imai, Mahito Ito, Yoshifumi Yamamoto,
Norimasa Izumi and Takuyu Taki
(Kansai-Rosai Hospital)
Giant cell tumor is a relatively common neoplasm most often affecting the epiphysis of long bones, especially the distal femur, proximal tibia, and distal radius. Involvement of the skull is uncommon, comprising less than 2％ of giant cell tumors of bone. When the skull is involved, the sphenoid and petrous portions of the temporal bone are preferred sites. Giant cell tumors are generally considered benign, although some can exhibit very aggressive behavior. We experienced a case of giant cell tumor of the temporal bone. This 17-year-old woman showed symptoms such as serous otitis media and had been treated for serous otitis media for about 2 years. There were no lesion in the nasopharyx. It had become impossible for her to walk straight due to dizziness. Therefore, MR images of the head were obtained. MR images showed a mass in the temporal bone. On auditory tests, she showed results suggesting serous otitis media, but she also showed a very strange spontaneous nystagmus. Ablative surgery was performed under general anesthesia. Histologically, the lesion was highly cellular, composed of spindle-shaped to oval stromal cells among which numerous multinucleated giant cells were evenly dispersed. At five months follow up, there was no recurrence detected radiologically. This case emphasizes that when we encounter refractory serous otitis media without nasopharyx lesion in adults, tumors in the temporal bone should be ruled out.
Key words : giant cell tumor, temporal bone, dizziness, serous otitis media, spontaneous nystagmus