Poster Presentation Annual Meetings of the Endocrine Society of Australia and Society for Reproductive Biology and Australia and New Zealand Bone and Mineral Society 2016

False negative Ga68-DOTA-exendin-4 PET/CT in a patient with occult insulinomas (#362)

Elisa K Bongetti 1 , Nirupa Sachithanandan 1 , Richard MacIsaac 1 , Stephen Farrell 1 , Melissa Lee
  1. St Vincent's Hospital melbourne, Fitzroy, VICTORIA, Australia

Benign insulinomas are rare neuroendocrine tumours most commonly located in the pancreas. They are the most frequent cause of hyperinsulinaemia hypoglycaemia in adults without diabetes. Diagnosis can be challenging, and accurate localisation with surgical excision is the only cure. There is a growing body of evidence for the efficacy of Ga68-DOTA-exendin-4 (glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1)) PET/CT scans, which centres on the premise that a near majority of insulinomas are ubiquitous for the GLP-1 receptor. We describe an 82 year-old woman with a history of fasting hyperinsulinaemic hypoglycaemia associated with neuroglycopaenic symptoms. Triple phase CT scan of the pancreas and a Ga68-DOTATATE PET/CT scan were both unremarkable. A Ga68-GLP-1 PET/CT scan showed diffuse pancreatic uptake consistent suggestive of pancreatic beta cell hyperplasia, or nesidioblastosis. The patient had further testing including an endoscopic ultrasound and calcium stimulation test which localised insulin hypersecretion to the body and tail of pancreas. Surgery revealed an insulinoma which was later confirmed on immunohistochemistry to be GLP-1 receptor negative. Although GLP-1 scans are being increasingly used in clinical practice for work-up of hypoglycaemic disorders, they are expensive and not readily available. Clinical judgment is always crucial, and the differential of an insulinoma should not be ruled out on the basis of this scan.