Doege-Potter syndrome in a patient with a giant abdominal solitary fibrous tumor: a case report and review of the literature

ABSTRACT

A 63-year-old man with spells of reduced consciousness in the morning and a giant abdominal mass presented to our institution for a second opinion. Investigation revealed non-diabetic hypoinsulinemic hypoglycemic events. Removal of the abdominal mass solved the hypoglycemia. Anatomopathological examination confirmed a solitary fibrous tumor (SFT). Doege-Potter syndrome was diagnosed. Doege-Potter syndrome is a potentially life-threatening rare paraneoplastic syndrome characterized by recurrent hypoinsulinemic hypoglycemia due to the overproduction of a prohormone form of insulin-like growth factor-II (pro-IGF-II) from a solitary fibrous tumor. First, we describe the clinical, laboratory and radiologic findings of the case. Second, a brief literature review on Doege-Potter syndrome is provided.

KEYWORDS:

• Hypoglycemia
• Doege-Potter syndrome
• non-islet cell hypoglycemia (NITCH)
• IGF-II
• solitary fibrous tumor (SFT)

Disclosure statement

The authors report there are no declarations of interest. The patient gave his permission for images or other clinical information relating to his case to be reported in a medical publication. His anonymity is guaranteed. We would like to acknowledge the patient for giving his informed consent, and the surgeon for providing photos.