Published online Jan 6, 2021. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v9.i1.163
Peer-review started: April 2, 2020
First decision: November 3, 2020
Revised: November 13, 2020
Accepted: November 29, 2020
Article in press: November 29, 2020
Published online: January 6, 2021
Hypoglycemia due to non-insulin-producing tumors is referred to as non-islet cell tumor hypoglycemia (NICTH). As NICTH is a rare lesion, the natural course of NICTH is not well understood. We report a case of NICTH that was observed 30 years before the onset of hypoglycemia.
A 50-year-old man was diagnosed with an abnormal right chest shadow during a routine X-ray examination, but no further examination was undertaken because the lesion appeared benign. Thirty years after the tumor discovery, the patient was admitted to the hospital with symptoms of severe hypoglycemia, which was diagnosed as NICTH based on a complete examination. The tumor was resected and found to be a solitary fibrous mass (15.6 cm × 13.7 cm × 10.4 cm); thereafter, the patient’s blood glucose levels normalized and he completely recovered.
NICTH can have an acute onset, even if the tumor has been present and asymptomatic over a long time period.
Core Tip: Since hypoglycemia due to non–insulin-producing tumors is a rare lesion, so the natural course of non-islet cell tumor hypoglycemia (NICTH) is not well understood. Here we describe a rare case of NICTH that was caused by a tumor that had been asymptomatic for 30 years. To our knowledge, this is the longest reported latency period before the onset of severe hypoglycemia. The sudden-onset of severe hypoglycemia in the patient described in this report indicates that NICTH can have an acute onset even when the tumor has been present for a longer time.