Glomus tumour of the hard palate: case report and review

Glomus tumours are usually small benign neoplasms that occur in the dermis or subcutaneous tissues of the extremities. They are rare in the oral cavity, only 18 cases having been reported in the medical journals to our knowledge. They arise from the epithelioid glomus cells that normally reside in the stratum retinaculare corii of the skin and are concerned with temperature regulation. We report the clinical, morphological and immunohistochemical features of a case of glomus tumour of the hard palate. (C) 2001 The British Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons.