Abstract |
A 59-year-old woman was hospitalized due to a 1-year history of diarrhea and weight loss. Echography and computed tomography of the abdomen revealed a 10 x 7 cm solid mass in the tail of the pancreas and gallstones, while selective celiac angiography revealed the presence of a hypervascular mass. High levels of somatostatin and calcitonin were detected in the plasma, 70 pg/ml (normal range <28 pg/ml) and 5550 pg/ml (normal range 37 +/- 8 pg/ml), respectively. This tumor was thus removed by means of a distal pancreatectomy and a splenectomy. After the pancreatic tumor was removed, the elevated levels of plasma somatostatin and calcitonin returned to the normal ranges, and the persistent diarrhea also dramatically disappeared. A postoperative immunohistochemical study showed the tumor cells to be diffusely positive for somatostatin and calcitonin. These results clearly indicate this patient to be a case of calcitonin-producing pancreatic somatostatinoma.
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Authors | F Sugimoto, T Sekiya, M Saito, T Iiai, K Suda, A Nozawa, T Nakazawa, T Ishizaki, T Ikarashi |
Journal | Surgery today
(Surg Today)
Vol. 28
Issue 12
Pg. 1279-82
( 1998)
ISSN: 0941-1291 [Print] Japan |
PMID | 9872549
(Publication Type: Case Reports, Journal Article, Review)
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Chemical References |
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Topics |
- Calcitonin
(blood, metabolism)
- Female
- Humans
- Immunohistochemistry
- Middle Aged
- Pancreatic Neoplasms
(metabolism, surgery)
- Somatostatin
(blood, metabolism)
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