Islets of hypoglycaemia: a rare case of adult onset nesidioblastosis

Abstract

A case of diffuse nesidioblastosis in an adult patient is reported in this study. A 24-year-old female with no known comorbidities presented with multiple episodes of documented recurrent hypoglycaemia and Hypoglycaemia induced seizures both in fasting and postprandial state. Her blood investigations revealed low plasma glucose levels, high insulin and C-peptide levels with positive 72-hour fast test. Her transabdominal USG and CECT abdomen did not reveal any abnormality, 68Ga DOTANOC PET CT done showed ill-defined diffuse somatostatin receptor expression in the pancreatic head and tail suggestive of nesidioblastosis. As patient was not willing for surgical treatment, hence started on medical treatment with oral nifedipine. Nesidioblastosis is very rare in adults. It is an important differential diagnosis in adults with hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemia although the incidence is very rare in adults. PET SCAN was used to non-invasively diagnose nesidioblastosis in this case. Surgery being the preferred choice of treatment in nesidioblastosis, there is limited data on medical line of management in nesidioblastosis.