Introduction:

Positron emission tomography is a non-invasive diagnostic technique, allowing images of the body to be taken that show the metabolism of the body's organs.

Objective:

To highlight the value of PET/CT in the pre-surgical imaging diagnosis of the patient.

Case presentation:

We report the case of a 39-year-old male patient with no significant medical history, but a 5-year history of severe hypoglycemia. Despite multiple imaging studies, digestive ultrasound endoscopy was included, which was not possible to demonstrate the tumor lesion. PET/CT was performed, the result of which was crucial in locating the tumor. The patient was given the opportunity for surgical treatment and the pathological demonstration of insulinoma.

Conclusions:

Insulinomas are rare pancreatic tumors that cause endogenous hyperinsulinism and are difficult to visualize due to their size using conventional imaging techniques, therefore PET/CT is a fairly effective study to locate the tumor lesion, and thus perform a surgical procedure.

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