Insulinoma Presenting with Recurrent Right Sided Hemiparesis

Sierra D, Chirico R, Lancelotti T, Stryjewski M and Bastianello MJ

Molecular Images and Metabolic Therapy Section, CEMIC, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Department of Surgery, CEMIC, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Department of Clinical, CEMIC, Buenos Aires, Argentina

^*Correspondance to: Diana Sierra 

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Abstract:

Insulinomas are a particular type of neuroendocrine tumor that represents the most common cause of hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemia in adults. Women from 40 to 50 years old are the group of patients more frequently affected. Common clinical presentation of this entity includes diplopia, blurred vision, confusion, palpitations, and weakness. In this report of case, we present a 67-yearold woman with an atypical clinical presentation of insulinoma: She arrived at the emergency department with right-sided hemiparesis and mild confusion associated with a 48 mg/dl serum glycemia. All these symptoms in conjunction lead to the suspicion of a probable case of insulinoma in an adult patient. Due to the inconclusiveness of the images previously obtained from magnetic resonance and the possibility to perform a 18F-DOPA PET-CT, we decided to use this molecular imaging tool to identify a pancreatic tumor with morphomolecular characteristics of insulinoma. Once the tumor was identified, a surgical procedure to enucleate was done and then the insulinoma was confirmed by pathological examination. As a result of this case, we consider the 18F-DOPA PET-CT is a useful molecular imaging tool to characterize insulinomas when there is an atypical clinical presentation and we lack information from conventional morphological images because they are not conclusive or clear.

Keywords:

Insulinoma; PET-CT; 18F-DOPA; Paresis; Hypoglycemia

Cite the Article:

Sierra D, Chirico R, Lancelotti T, Stryjewski M, Bastianello MJ. Insulinoma Presenting with Recurrent Right Sided Hemiparesis. Clin Case Rep Int. 2023; 7: 1575.