Case report: A particularly rare case of endogenous hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemia
complicated with pregnancy treated with short-acting somatostatin analog injections
Hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemia is a rare disease, and only two cases complicated with
pregnancy were published previously when our patient became pregnant. We introduce
a successful management of a pregnancy in a patient with endogenous hyperinsulinemic
hypoglycemia, a condition also known as non-insulinoma pancreatogenous hypoglycemia
syndrome or formerly as nesidioblastosis. A 29-year-old female patient was treated
with endogenous hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemia since the age of 4 months, taking daily
3 x 75 mg diazoxide, which adds up to 225 mg per day. Adequate glycemic control could
be achieved with this therapy. Genetic testing and various imaging examinations were
carried out earlier to specify the disease and to exclude focal forms. The patient
came to the clinic with a positive pregnancy test and consequential hypoglycemic episodes.
Hospital admission was needed to correct the metabolic condition. Although the patient
was informed about the potential risks, she decided to carry out the pregnancy. According
to the quite limited literature, somatostatin analogs are the only therapy used previously
during pregnancy in hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemic patients. One publication reported
normal pregnancy outcomes, but in another case, restricted fetal growth was observed.
In our case, we stopped diazoxide and parallelly introduced short-acting somatostatin
analog octreotide in the therapy, and further dietetic changes were proposed. In addition
to daily regular self-blood glucose monitoring, regular gynecological controls were
carried out monthly, and healthy fetal development was confirmed. The patient gave
birth to her first child, a well-developed female neonate, in the 38th week, by a
cesarean section.