Insulinoma in a third-trimester pregnant woman combined with pre-eclampsia: a case report and review of the diagnostic strategies

Insulinoma Management in a Pregnant Woman: A Case Report

An insulinoma is a rare tumor that originates in the β cells of the pancreas with an incidence of four cases per million people per year. To our knowledge, 40 cases of insulinoma in pregnancy have been reported. Insulinoma in pregnancy is usually diagnosed in the first trimester. Surgical treatment is advised during the second trimester with complications arising in up to 10% of cases. We present the case of a 34-year-old pregnant woman diagnosed with insulinoma during the first trimester. The patient underwent a laparoscopic resection of the tumor at 15.5 weeks of gestation. Insulinoma was resected and postoperative complications were managed, including acute pancreatitis and peripancreatic and splenorenal fluid collection, which were treated using multidisciplinary management and resolved at the end of the pregnancy at 40.1 weeks of gestation.

Diazoxide during pregnancy and lactation: drug levels in maternal serum, cord blood, breast milk, and infant serum: a case report

Safety information on diazoxide for pregnant and lactating women with hypoglycemia is limited. In this case report, we assessed diazoxide concentrations in maternal and infant blood, cord blood, and breast milk. We described a 30-year-old pregnant woman diagnosed with hypoglycemia due to nesidioblastosis at 4 months of age. Before becoming pregnant, she was treated with oral diazoxide (75-375 mg). All medications were discontinued after she was discovered to be pregnant. During gestational week 25, diazoxide treatment was resumed at 150-175 mg daily for repeated hypoglycemic episodes. Diazoxide administration was continued in combination with diet treatment until delivery. Glucose levels were well controlled. During gestational week 40, a male infant weighing 3069 g was delivered via spontaneous vaginal delivery with no pregnancy or neonatal complications. Diazoxide concentrations detected in maternal serum at 2.5-11.6 h after oral treatment ranged from 12.4 to 32.7 µg/mL. In cord blood, the diazoxide concentration was 18.5 µg/mL at 7.2 h after the last dose. During lactation, no hypoglycemia or hyperglycemia was observed. The approximate calculated ratio of diazoxide in breast milk and maternal serum was 0.09. The calculated daily infant dose was 0.47 mg/kg/day. The relative infant dose via breast milk ranged from 3.1% to 5.9%. Diazoxide transferred from maternal blood to the fetus across the placenta. It also transferred into breast milk, but there were no harmful effects on the infant.

Pancreatic neuroendocrine carcinoma in a pregnant woman: A case report and review of the literature

BACKGROUND

Portal venous thromboembolism caused by malignant pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor metastasis, as the initial presentation of portal hypertension and upper gastrointestinal bleeding, is a rare entity. To our knowledge, there are no reports of this entity in pregnant women. We describe a case of pancreatic neuroendocrine carcinoma during pregnancy with hematemesis and hematochezia as the initial presentation and review the literature to analyze the demographic, clinical, and pathological features to provide a reference for clinical diagnosis and treatment.

CASE SUMMARY

A 40-year-old woman presented with hematemesis and hematochezia at 26-wk gestation; she had no other remarkable medical history. The physical examination revealed normal vital signs, an anemic appearance, and lower abdominal distension. Abdominal color Doppler ultrasonography showed portal vein thrombosis, splenomegaly, intrauterine pregnancy, and intrauterine fetal death. Esophagogastroduodenoscopy revealed esophageal and gastric varicose veins and portal hypertensive gastropathy. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography demonstrated multiple emboli formation in the portal and splenic veins, multiple round shadows in the liver with a slightly lower density, portal vein broadening, varicose veins in the lower esophagus and gastric fundus, splenomegaly, bilateral pleural effusion, ascites and pelvic effusion, broadening of the common bile duct, and increased uterine volume. According to the results of Positron emission tomography-computed tomography and immunohistochemical staining, the final diagnoses were that the primary lesion was a pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor and that there were secondary intrahepatic metastases and venous cancer thrombogenesis.

CONCLUSION

Upper gastrointestinal bleeding in a pregnant woman may be caused by portal hypertension due to a malignant pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor.

A case of insulinoma diagnosed postpartum with hypoglycemic symptoms that were masked during pregnancy

The diagnosis of insulinoma in perinatal women can be difficult, as hypoglycemic symptoms may be masked by pregnancy-associated insulin resistance. In addition, when multiple insulinomas are observed, it is necessary to consider the possibility not only of MEN1, but also of insulinomatosis.

Insulinoma in pregnancy (a case presentation and systematic review of the literature)

Insulinomas are rare, benign and functional tumors that coincidentally may become overt during pregnancy or in the post-partum period. As the general symptoms of a pregnancy might cover the clinical presentation, diagnosing remains challenging. We present one additional case of a post-partum insulinoma, combined with a systematic review of the literature to sum up relevant details in diagnosis and treatment. A systematic request of Pubmed/Medline was conducted using the following terms: "insulinoma AND pregnancy" and "insulinoma" for a second request of ClinicalTrials.gov. All publications concerning pregnant or post-partum women with insulinoma were included. Thirty-six cases could be identified for analysis. Each publication was reviewed for demographic, diagnostic and therapeutic data. The most frequent clinical signs were unconsciousness and neurological symptoms. 64.9% were diagnosed during early pregnancy and 35.1% post-partum. 91.9% underwent surgery with a third resected during pregnancy without severe influence on fetal or maternal outcome. Three patients died of metastatic disease or misdiagnosing, two of them miscarried. Insulinoma in pregnancy is rare but should be considered in case of unclear hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemia. Surgery can be performed during the second trimester or post-partum with promising outcome.

[Insulinoma and pregnancy: anesthesia and perioperative management]

Insulinoma is a functional neuroendocrine tumor derived from beta cells of the pancreatic islets of Langerhans, usually solitary, benign, and curable with surgery (enucleation). It rarely occurs during pregnancy and is clinically manifested by hypoglycemia, particularly in the first trimester of pregnancy. During pregnancy, both conservative therapeutic measures (medication) and surgical treatment are challenging regarding the impossibility of studies on drug teratogenicity as well as the maternal-fetal repercussions during surgery, such as hypoglycemia and changes due to stress.

CASE REPORT

A 33-year primiparous woman, 86kg, 1.62m, BMI 32.7kg.m^-2, at 15 weeks of gestation, physical status ASA III, investigated for a reduced level of consciousness. Laboratory tests showed: hypoglycemia (45mg.dL^-1) associated with hyperinsulinemia (24 nUI.mL^-1), glycosylated hemoglobin (4.1%); other laboratory findings and physical examination were normal. Magnetic resonance imaging showed a 1.1cm nodule in the pancreatic tail with suspected insulinoma. Due to the difficult glycemic control with bolus and continuous infusion of glucose, laparotomy was performed for tumor enucleation under total intravenous anesthesia combined with epidural block. Monitoring, central and peripheral venous access, radial artery catheterization, diuresis, and glucosimetry were recorded every 15minutes. Intraoperatively, there was severe hypoglycemia while handling the tumor and shortly before its enucleation, which was controlled through continuous infusion of 10% glucose balanced crystalloid solution (100-230ml.h^-1). The patient's postoperative evolution was uneventful, with resolution of hypoglycemia and total withdrawal of glucose intravenous infusion.