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Metastatic psammomatous somatostatioma of the pancreas causing severe ketoacidotic diabetes cured by surgery

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Abstract

A case of somatostatin-producing pancreatic tumor associated with severe insulindependent diabetes mellitus and ketoacidotic coma is reported. The tumor, a 10-cm expansile mass arising from the pancreatic tail of a 70-yr-old woman, was first detected by ultrasonography, performed because of abdominal pain, and subsequently confirmed by computed tomography and fine-needle tumor aspiration. Pathologic investigation showed a predominatly solid-trabecular structure with scattered microacini and psammomatous bodies. A large proportion of tumor cells expressed somatostatin and/or calcitonin. Following resection of the primary tumor and three peripancreatic lymph nodes with metastases, the patient recovered rapidly from her diabetic syndrome and remained in substantially good health during a subsequent 8-yr follow-up period, without evidence of tumor recurrence.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Human Pathology, University of Pavia, Forlanini 16, 27100, Pavia, Italy

    Fausto Sessa MD & Enrico Solcia MD, PhD

  2. Varese General Hospital, Varese, Italy

    Fausto Sessa MD

  3. Surgical Pathology II, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy

    Massimo Arcidiaco MD & Luigi Valenti MD

  4. IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo, Pavia, Italy

    Massimo Arcidiaco MD, Luigi Valenti MD, Marco Solcia MD, Enrico Di Maggio MD & Enrico Solcia MD, PhD

  5. Institute of Radiology, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy

    Marco Solcia MD & Enrico Di Maggio MD

Authors
  1. Fausto Sessa MD
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  2. Massimo Arcidiaco MD
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  3. Luigi Valenti MD
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  4. Marco Solcia MD
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  5. Enrico Di Maggio MD
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  6. Enrico Solcia MD, PhD
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Correspondence to Fausto Sessa MD.

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Sessa, F., Arcidiaco, M., Valenti, L. et al. Metastatic psammomatous somatostatioma of the pancreas causing severe ketoacidotic diabetes cured by surgery. Endocr Pathol 8, 327–333 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02739935

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