[Insulinomas in children. Histologic and ultrastructural study. (apropos of 2 cases)].

The authors report two case-histories of insulin-secreting tumors of the pancreas in children. They emphasize the rare occurence and the percularity of these tumors with regard to insulinomas in adults. The ultrastructural and histopathological examination showed: --the presence of a "junction area" rich in centro-acinar cells between the pancreas and the tumor, --within the tumor, the existence of exocrine elements i.e. acinar cells and more or less differentiated canalar structures. On behalf of these findings the authors discuss the problem of the histogenesis of these tumors. Is it a matter of endocrine adenomatous hyperplasia of centro-acinar origin, or of real "apudoma"?