S4148 Calcium Stimulation-Guided Endoscopic Ultrasound Radiofrequency Ablation for Symptomatic Metastatic Insulinoma in a Patient With MEN1
Introduction: Insulinomas are rare neuroendocrine tumors (NET) that cause recurrent fasting hypoglycemia and neuroglycopenic symptoms. Endoscopic ultrasound-guided radiofrequency ablation (EUS-RFA) is a novel, minimally invasive treatment for insulinomas that causes cell death with targeted thermal energy and has been used as an alternative to surgical resection for management of hypoglycemia. Case Description/Methods: A 41-year-old woman with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 presented with a 10-year history of recurrent fasting hypoglycemia. Fasting labs revealed blood glucose 54 mg/dL, insulin 3.8 mIU/L, proinsulin 9.8 pmol/L, and C-peptide 1.8 ng/mL. Computed tomography (CT) abdomen/pelvis demonstrated a large 2.4 × 2.5 × 2.9 cm well-circumscribed pancreatic head mass and 3 pancreatic body and tail lesions. Dotatate positron emission tomography (PET)/CT revealed a somatostatin avid pancreatic head mass, pancreatic tail nodules, and multiple hepatic, retroperitoneal, and peripancreatic lesions consistent with metastatic insulinoma. EUS revealed a 31 mm × 27 mm pancreatic head mass, 12 mm pancreatic tail lesion, and sub-centimeter left hepatic lesion. Fine needle aspiration of the pancreatic head mass confirmed well-differentiated NET. A selective arterial calcium stimulation test (SACST) identified the source of pathologic insulin production in the pancreatic body/tail despite the dominant lesion in the head. She underwent EUS-RFA with 5 ablations of an 11 mm lesion in the pancreatic body for 11-18 seconds, 5 ablations of an 11 mm lesion in the pancreatic tail for 15-22 seconds, and 2 ablations of an 8 mm lesion in the pancreatic tail for 16-17 seconds using a 10 mm trocar. One day after EUS-RFA, fasting labs revealed blood glucose 117 mg/dL, insulin 4.8 mIU/L, C-peptide 2.6 ng/mL, and she reported no episodes of hypoglycemia at follow-up. Two months after EUS-RFA, magnetic resonance imaging of the abdomen/pelvis demonstrated small pancreatic body and tail lesions without enhancement at sites of ablation and unchanged pancreatic head mass and hepatic, retroperitoneal, and peripancreatic lesions. Discussion: In a patient with metastatic insulinoma, the SACST was successful in localizing the source of pathologic insulin production to guide treatment with EUS-RFA. Despite limited reports of EUS-RFA for insulinomas and none in the setting of metastatic disease, this modality appears to be a promising potential approach, in this case guided by the SACST to target sites of disease. Watch the video: https://tinyurl.com/25ACGS4148
Authors
- Kevin Thompson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3985-1622)
- Priya D John
- Daniel Halpérin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1598-989X)
- Field F. Willingham (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7071-3001)
- Zachary Bercu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1307-3770)
- Saurabh Chawla (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6841-4929)
Publication Details
- Journal
- The American Journal of Gastroenterology
- Published
- 2025-10-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.14309/01.ajg.0001144052.21402.48
- Primary Topic
- Neuroendocrine Tumor Research Advances
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00