Smith Alisha, Thornton Paul S, Galliani Carlos A, Miller James P, Dykes Jennifer, Leung-Pineda Van
1 Department of Pathology and Laboratory, Cook Children's Medical Center, Fort Worth, Texas 76104, USA.
Pediatr Dev Pathol. 2015 Jan-Feb;18(1):80-3. doi: 10.2350/14-08-1537-CR.1. Epub 2014 Dec 1.
We present the case of a 14-year-old female who experienced several episodes of reversible altered mental status triggered by hypoglycemia. Following endocrine investigation, she was diagnosed with insulinoma. Insulinoma, a rare, differentiated, and functioning neuroendocrine tumor of the pancreas overproduces insulin, thus leading to hypoglycemic episodes. Conventional imaging failed to detect the lesion; therefore, arterial calcium stimulation with venous sampling (ASVS) was used for preoperative localization. The patient recovered without complications after surgical enucleation of the tumor. The ASVS is a useful method for localizing insulinomas when conventional imaging techniques fail, and can help reduce morbidities associated with surgical excision.