Changes in the diagnostic and therapeutic methods for insulinoma

Abstract

Insulinoma is derived from beta cells, and the yearly incidence of insulinoma is 1-4 per one million. Insulinoma patients were often misdiagnosed with epilepsy or cerebrovascular diseases because of the clinical and epidemiological features of insulinoma. The diagnosis of the insulinoma is usually made biochemically with the presence of low blood glucose ( <2.5 mmol/L), elevated insulin ( ≥6 mU/L) and C-peptide levels ( ≥ 200 pmol/L), and no sulfonylureas in the blood.Supervised 72-hour fasting test has been verified as the gold standard in establishing a biochemical diagnosis of insulinoma.Localization of insulinoma is useful for selecting surgical procedures, and the methods for localization can be divided into noninvasive (transabdominal ultrasound, computed tomography,magnetic resonance imaging and endoscopic ultrasound), invasive (angiography and arterial stimulation venous sampling) and intraoperative diagnosis. Surgical treatment is the only curative method at present, and the common approaches include enuclea tion, partial pancreatic resection, resection of the body and tail of pancreas and duodenum-preserving pancreatic head resection.Most patients with sporadic insulinoma had long-term survival after the surgery. For insulinoma patients with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1, an aggressive surgical approach is recommended. Key words: Insulinoma; Pancreatectomy; Diagnosis