[Endocrine tumors of the duodenum and pancreas: "prerequisites", imaging, and intraoperative detection]

Non-secreting pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors and diarrheogenic tumors are usually bulky and easy to recognize thanks to somatostatin-receptor scintigraphy and hormonal dosages. The real difficulty concerns insulinomas and particularly gastrinomas, which are found at the level of the duodenum and can be very small. Diagnosis is based on biological examinations, and the search for MEN I must be done systematically. Their localization is based on two essential and noninvasive exams: echoendoscopy and somatostatin-receptor imaging, though the surgeon's skill in the operative field, aided by an intraoperioperative echography, is indispensable. Surgical treatment of insulinomas gives excellent results. However, for sporadic gastrinomas, there was only a 34% recovery rate, and still less for MEN I gastrinomas.