A case of
glucagonoma syndrome in a 58-year-old male patient who had the typical skin lesions associated with severe hypoaminoacidemia is described. The decrease in
amino acids has been proposed to be causally related to the
dermatosis. Furthermore, it has been shown previously that
somatostatin rapidly improves skin lesions in
glucagonoma patients. Therefore, plasma
amino acid levels were determined before and during an infusion of
somatostatin prior to surgical removal of the
tumor in the tail of the pancreas. During
somatostatin infusion in combination with
total parenteral nutrition, 10 out of 22
amino acids were in the normal range. Thus it seems unlikely that normalization of
amino acid levels is responsible for the rapid improvement in skin lesions in
glucagonoma patients. On the other hand it cannot be excluded that partial normalization of
amino acids contributed to the observed healing process. Nevertheless,
somatostatin administered prior to surgery is a useful therapeutic regimen in these patients.