[Multiple disseminated glomus tumors (glomangioma). Immunohistochemical analysis and differentiation from viscerocutaneous hemangiomatosis].

A 25-year-old patient presented with multiple disseminated asymptomatic bluish nodules, which had been present since childhood. Histological examination revealed vascular cavities surrounded by round to oval eosinophilic cells. Positive immunohistochemical staining with alpha-smooth-muscle antigen (alpha-SMA) and vimentin confirmed the diagnosis of multiple disseminated glomus tumours of the vascular type. Tumour cells were surrounded by a network of type IV collagen. In contrast antibodies against the intermediate filament protein desmin and the endothelial markers BMA 120 and anti-von Willebrand factor revealed no staining of the glomus cells. This was the first immunohistochemical investigation of a glomus tumour of vascular type. Immunohistochemical staining of these glomus cells revealed no difference from other histological types of glomus tumours.