Surgical management of glomus tumors: endocrine-active tumors of the skull base.

The surgical management of glomus jugulare tumors involving the temporal bone and skull base is determined by the extent of the disease process. These highly vascular tumors also have the capability of producing vasoactive amines, which may complicate surgical management by causing widely fluctuating blood pressures. I present my experience in the evaluation and management of glomus tumors in 44 patients treated at the Farrior Clinic to alert physicians to the potential endocrine activity of tumors of the skull base.