Gastrinoma is the second most common neuroendocrine tumor of the pancreas, after insulinoma. They are considered a fairly aggressive tumor with 60% of patients having metastases at the time of diagnosis.
Most gastrinomas are located in the “gastrinoma triangle” which is described as the junction of the head and neck of the pancreas, the junction of the common bile and cystic ducts, and the junction of the 2nd and 3rd part of the duodenum.
The initial test for diagnosing a gastrinoma is a fasting serum gastin level. If this is elevated a secretin stimulation test is used confirm the diagnosis. A positive test is an increase in serum gastrin of 200 pg/mL or more, although false-negatives have been reported.
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