Clinical diagnosis of metastatic carcinoid tumours

Eighteen patients with metastatic carcinoid tumours were admitted to surgical gastroenterological department of Rigshospitalet during the period 1974--1978. Thirteen had primary carcinoid tumours in the terminal ileum, two in the lungs, one in the pancreas, one in the testis, and one possibly in the retroperitoneum. All patients had distant metastases, 13 in the liver. Carcinoid syndrome with flusing and diarrhoea was present in 15 patients (83%). The time elapsing from onset of symptoms until diagnosis was on an average 2 1/2 years. The most valuable screening test for carcinoid syndrome was determination of the excretion of 5-hydroxy-indol- acetic-acid. The most sensitive investigation for determination of primary tumour and/or metastases was abdominal angiography, which was positive in all cases. Other radiological investigations were less sensitive.