Paraganglioma of the temporal bone in infancy. A congenital lesion?

Jugulotympanic glomus tumors have been called many things, but "paraganglioma of the temporal bone" is perhaps a more suitable term. This tumor is generally described as benign with a predilection for middle-aged women. Herein we report the case of an 11-month-old female infant with this condition. The extensiveness of the tumor with intracranial involvement at presentation suggests that the lesion might have been present for some time and raises the question of it being congenital in origin. We emphasize the overall importance of including paraganglioma of the temporal bone in the differential diagnosis of a "bleeding polyp" of the ear.