Pancreatic islet (insulinoma) is an insulin-secreting tumor. It is a B cell tumor that is 25 percent malignant. They are small tumors (from 10 to 50 mm), most often single, in 70% of them. cases located within the body and tail of the pancreas.
Pancreatic island( insulinoma ) accounts for nearly 90 percent of all pancreatic tumors. Often, in its course, there are a number of symptoms and ailments that are incorrectly recognized as, for example, nervous diseases, e.g. epilepsy. Pancreatic islet is twice as common in women. The average age at diagnosis is around 50 years.
Pancreatic Islander: Symptoms
- periodic visual acuity disturbance, double vision
- palpitations
- significant body weakness
- excessive sweating
- hunger attacks
- changes in behavior
- disturbance of consciousness and memory
- loss of consciousness
- hypoglycaemia many hours after a meal (in the most severe cases up to 2 hours)
Note! Too much alcohol, a low calorie diet, or too much exercise can make symptoms worse. The sick are most often obese.
Pancreatic Islander: diagnosis
The so-called starvation test, which allows you to determine the concentration of proinsulin in the serum. Preoperative examinations include endosonography, one stop-shop NMR, spiral computed tomography and scintigraphy.
Treatment of pancreatic islet
The treatment consists in surgical excision of the tumor - enucleation using the laparoscopic or classical method. Sometimes it is necessary to remove the pancreas (pancreatectomy). Conservative treatment involves diazoxide and somatostatin analogues. Conservative treatment should also include the use of a high-protein and high-carbohydrate diet with the limitation of simple sugars. In the case of a malignant pancreatic islet, chemotherapy is required.