Glomus Tumor of the Left Second Toe Distal Phalanx: A Case Report and Review of Literature

Glomus tumors are rare, benign neoplasms that originate from glomus bodies. While usually occurring in the subungual regions of the fingers, glomus tumors are seldom found in the foot, although rare reports have been made of glomus tumors in the hallux and even fewer in the lesser toes. We describe a reported case of a glomus tumor occurring in the distal phalanx of the left second toe that was initially missed on imaging studies, resulting in delayed diagnosis and surgical treatment. To the best of our knowledge, this represents one of the first few cases of glomus tumor reported in the lesser toes. A 34-year-old Chinese female presented with pain in the left second toe occurring for several years. Initial assessment and radiological investigations came back negative for abnormalities, resulting in delayed treatment. Upon second opinion of the MRI scans, a 0.2 × 0.2 × 0.2 cm well-defined round enhancing high T2-weighted signal focus within the germinal matrix of the left second toe subungual region was found, suggestive of a glomus tumor. Surgical exploration was offered, which found a skin-colored lesion, which was resected using a transungual approach. The final histology of the excised mass showed perivascular proliferation of uniform cells which contained round to ovoid nucleus with small nucleolus and pale eosinophilic cytoplasm, confirming glomus tumor. Glomus tumors are rarely found in the foot, with even fewer reports in the lesser toes. Their rare occurrence in these regions reduces diagnostic suspicion for these tumors, delaying diagnosis and treatment for patients. This case report highlights the difficulty in diagnosing glomus tumors, even with adequate radiological investigations, and showcases the need for careful scrutinization of imaging. As this presentation is extremely uncommon, we hope that this case report increases suspicion of glomus tumors as a differential diagnosis for toe pain to ensure early treatment and alleviation of symptoms for patients.