[The diagnosis and treatment of insulinoma: an analysis on 20 cases]

From 1967 to 1994, a total of 20 pathologically proved benign insulinoma cases were treated in our hospital. Tumors were solitary in 19 cases, and multiple in 1, with diameter ranging from 0.5 to 3.0 cm. Diagnosis was made by autopsy in one and by laparotomy in 19. All 18 cases except for the one dying of pancreatic fistula postoperatively during the same hospitalization were followed up for 1 to 18 years without recurrence. The authors recommended calcium infusion test as the standard method of diagnosis, analysed the false diagnosis in one patient, and discussed operative experience on tumors deeply buried in the head of the pancreas.