A four-year-old female who was born term via spontaneous vaginal delivery with a birth weight of 3.4 kg had an onset of persistent hypoglycaemia at the 6th hour of life. She was diagnosed with congenital hyperinsulinism based on high glucose load, negative ketone and a good response to glucagon. Genetic workup revealed the presence of ATP Binding Cassette Subfamily C Member 8 (ABCC8 genes) mutation which indicated a focal form of congenital hyperinsulinism. She was resistant to the standard dose of oral diazoxide but responded to subcutaneous somatostatin. At the age of 3 years and 6 months, multiple daily injections of somatostatin were replaced with a long-acting monthly somatostatin analogue. With the present treatment, she had better glycaemic control, normal growth and was able to stop tube feeding.
Congenital Hyperinsulinism ; Somatostatin

Humans ; Consensus ; Congenital Hyperinsulinism

¹⁸F-DOPA PET/CT is commonly done in patients with persistent hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemia of infancy (PHHI) to look for any focal lesion in the pancreas.We present the findings in a 20-day-old neonate with PHHI who underwent ¹⁸F-DOPA PET/CT. The scan showed diffuse uptake in the pancreas with no focal lesion, physiologic excretion into the genito-urinary system, and interestingly tracer accumulation was seen in the inferior vena cava and ilio-femoral veins which is a non-physiological site for tracer accumulation. The uptake corresponded to a large venous thrombus which was confirmed by a venous Doppler.
Congenital Hyperinsulinism ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Pancreas ; Positron-Emission Tomography and Computed Tomography ; Thrombosis ; Veins ; Vena Cava, Inferior

Management of congenital hyperinsulinemia of infancy (CHI) is challenging. A 4-month-old female infant with persistent hypoglycemia and elevated insulin levels was diagnosed with CHI. Gallium-68 DOTANOC positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) scan (⁶⁸Ga-labeled [1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane-N,N’,N’’,N’’’-tetraacetic acid]-1-NaI3-octreotide) demonstrated focal disease in the body of the pancreas. Genetic studies indicated paternal inheritance, making focal disease likely. She was started on diazoxide therapy with partial improvement in blood glucose levels. Due to a suboptimal response to diazoxide and the likelihood of focal disease amenable to surgery, a laparoscopic subtotal pancreatectomy with preservation of the head of the pancreas was performed. The biopsy demonstrated diffuse hyperplastic pancreatic islet cells on immunohistochemistry, indicative of diffuse rather than focal disease. Paternal inheritance is a recognized indicator of focal disease. Gallium-68 DOTANOC PET/CT scan is the only available imaging modality in South India as ¹⁸F-L-dihydroxyphenylalanine (DOPA) PET/CT scan is not available at present. A laparoscopic approach reduces the postoperative recovery time and morbidity in such patients. The absence of ¹⁸F-L-DOPA PET/CT scan and the limited supply of diazoxide makes the management of this complex condition more challenging in developing countries.
Biopsy ; Blood Glucose ; Congenital Hyperinsulinism* ; Developing Countries* ; Diazoxide ; Electrons ; Female ; Head ; Humans ; Hyperinsulinism ; Hypoglycemia ; Immunohistochemistry ; India ; Infant ; Insulin ; Islets of Langerhans ; Pancreas ; Pancreatectomy ; Positron-Emission Tomography and Computed Tomography ; Wills

Congenital hyperinsulinism (CHI) is the most common cause of persistent hypoglycaemia in childhood (Horm Res 70:65-72, 2008; J Clin Endocr Metab 93:869-875, 2008). ¹⁸⁻Fluoro-L-dihydroxy-phenylalanine (¹⁸F-DOPA) positron emission tomography (PET) can detect areas of increased activity in the pancreas and may differentiate focal from diffuse CHI (J Clin Endocr Metab 93:869-875, 2008; Radiology 253:216-222, 2009). We here report the case of a girl who complained of recurrent episodes of severe hypoglycaemia despite previous partial pancreatectomy. To evaluate the need for additional surgical intervention, we performed ¹⁸F-DOPA PET/computed tomography (CT), which showed a focal lesion corresponding to the anatomical region of the pancreatic tail. On the other hand, abdominal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) clearly demonstrated that the ¹⁸F-DOPA uptake was in a loop of bowel occupying the previous surgical bed. Our case highlights that bowel uptake can be a possible pitfall in the interpretation of ¹⁸F-DOPA PET/CT in children affected by CHI, suggesting that when ¹⁸F-DOPA PET/CT results do not fit the clinical picture, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may allow a more accurate correlation of the radiotracer activity with the underlying anatomical or pathological structure.
Child ; Congenital Hyperinsulinism ; Diagnosis ; Female ; Hand ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Pancreas ; Pancreatectomy ; Positron-Emission Tomography ; Positron-Emission Tomography and Computed Tomography ; Tail

Congenital hyperinsulinism (CHI) is a rare condition that can cause irreversible brain damage during the neonatal period owing to the associated hypoglycemia. Hypoglycemia in CHI occurs secondary to the dysregulation of insulin secretion. CHI has been established as a genetic disorder of islet-cell hyperplasia, associated with a mutation of the ABCC8 or KCNJ11 genes, which encode the sulfonylurea receptor 1 and the inward rectifying potassium channel (Kir6.2) subunit of the ATP-sensitive potassium channel, respectively. We report the case of a female newborn infant who presented with repetitive seizures and episodes of apnea after birth, because of hypoglycemia. Investigations revealed hypoglycemia with hyperinsulinemia, but no ketone bodies, and a low level of free fatty acids. High dose glucose infusion, enteral feeding, and medications could not maintain the patient's serum glucose level. Genetic testing revealed a new variation of ABCC8 mutation. Therefore, we report this case of CHI caused by a novel mutation of ABCC8 in a half-Korean newborn infant with diazoxide-unresponsive hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemia.
Apnea ; Blood Glucose ; Brain ; Congenital Hyperinsulinism* ; Enteral Nutrition ; Fatty Acids, Nonesterified ; Female ; Genetic Testing ; Glucose ; Humans ; Hyperinsulinism ; Hyperplasia ; Hypoglycemia ; Infant, Newborn ; Insulin ; Ketone Bodies ; Parturition ; Potassium Channels ; Seizures

A 2.4 kg baby boy born via Caesarian section at 35 weeks had the first onset of hypoglycemia at 2 hours of life. The infant required a glucose load of 30 mg/kg/min. Insulin level was 19.6 pmol/L (normal value 17.8-173.0) in the absence of ketosis. He was resistant to oral diazoxide but responded to octreotide infusion. The boy was found to be heterozygous for an ABCC8 nonsense mutation, p.R934*. We present our experience on the use of subcutaneous octreotide for 2 years for the treatment of diazoxide resistant congenital hyperinsulinism (CHI).

Male ; Infant ; Codon, Nonsense ; Congenital Hyperinsulinism ; Diazoxide ; Glucose ; Infant ; Insulins ; Ketosis ; Octreotide ; Parturition ; Pregnancy ; Mutation

Congenital Hyperinsulinism ; diagnosis ; therapy ; Humans

Among all serious diseases globally, diabetes (type 1 and type 2) still poses a major challenge to the world population. Several target proteins have been identified, and the etiology causing diabetes has been reasonably well studied. But, there is still a gap in deciding on the choice of a drug, especially when the target is mutated. Mutations in the KCNJ11 gene, encoding the kir6.2 channel, are reported to be associated with congenital hyperinsulinism, having a major impact in causing type 1 diabetes, and due to the lack of its 3D structure, an attempt has been made to predict the structure of kir6.2, applying fold recognition methods. The current work is intended to investigate the affinity of four phytochemicals namely, curcumin (Curcuma longa), genistein (Genista tinctoria), piperine (Piper nigrum), and pterostilbene (Vitis vinifera) in a normal as well as in a mutant kir6.2 model by adopting a molecular docking methodology. The phytochemicals were docked in both wild and mutated kir6.2 models in two rounds: blind docking followed by ATP-binding pocket-specific docking. From the binding pockets, the common interacting amino acid residues participating strongly within the binding pocket were identified and compared. From the study, we conclude that these phytochemicals have strong affinity in both the normal and mutant kir6.2 model. This work would be helpful for further study of the phytochemicals above for the treatment of type 1 diabetes by targeting the kir6.2 channel.
Congenital Hyperinsulinism ; Curcumin ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Genistein ; Molecular Docking Simulation ; Phytochemicals*

Congenital hyperinsulinism is the most frequent cause of severe, persistent hypoglycemia in infancy and childhood. It is caused by an inappropriate insulin secretion from the pancreatic beta-cells secondary to various genetic disorders. Recognition of this entity becomes important due to the fact that hypoglycemia is very severe and frequent and that it may lead to severe neurological damage in the infant manifesting as mental or psychomotor retardation or even a life-threatening events if not recognized and treated effectively in time. Hypoglycemias can be detected by seizures, fainting, or any other neurological symptoms in the neonatal period or later, usually within the first two years of life. Hypoglycemias must be rapidly and intensively treated to prevent severe and irreversible brain damages. Next, a treatment to prevent the recurrence of hypoglycemia must be set, which may include frequent and glucose-enriched feeding, diazoxide and octreotide. We report a case of congenital hyperinsulinemia in a 2 months old infant presenting as atonic seizure which has been treated with diazoxide.
Brain ; Congenital Hyperinsulinism* ; Diazoxide ; Humans ; Hyperinsulinism ; Hypoglycemia ; Infant* ; Insulin ; Octreotide ; Recurrence ; Seizures* ; Syncope