Preoperative detection of insulinomas: two case reports

BACKGROUND: Insulinoma is the most common endocrine tumor of the pancreas. Accurate preoperative detection and localization of insulinomas is essential for the appropriate selection of candidates for surgery. We present two cases with benign pancreatic insulinoma. CASE PRESENTATION: Preoperative evaluation for patients with suspected insulinomas has been controversial. Endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) has a sensitivity of 95% in well skilled operators and well tolerated preoperative imaging method. CONCLUSION: We have detected the insulinomas with EUS before surgery in our patients but other imaging modalities did not help us for localization of them. Patients have been asymptomatic postoperatively with no hypoglycemia on repeat fasting. We reviewed here the different modalities for preoperative localization of insulinoma.