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Utility of 18FDOPA PET/MRI for Focal Hyperinsulinism

Use of18F-DOPA PET/MRI for the Detection and Localization of Focal Forms of Hyperinsulinism

Status
Recruiting
Phases
Phase 2
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT05088798
Acronym
18FDOPA HI
Enrollment
100
Registered
2021-10-22
Start date
2020-09-10
Completion date
2030-01-01
Last updated
2025-12-19

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Hyperinsulinism

Keywords

hypoglycemia, Glucose Metabolism Disorders, Infant, Newborn, Diseases, Hyperinsulinism, Insulinoma

Brief summary

The purpose of the study is to provide access to 18F-DOPA PET to patients at Washington University and assess the utility of 18F-DOPA PET/MRI as a preoperative tool to detect and localize focal lesions in the pancreas that are causing hyperinsulinism.

Detailed description

Congenital hyperinsulinism (CHI) is a clinically and genetically heterogeneous disorder that is the most common cause of permanent hypoglycemia in infants and children. More than 50% of the medically-unresponsive patients have focal disease. Which is characterized by a distinct region of Beta-cell hyperplasia in the pancreas, due to a somatic loss of a gene that regulates cell proliferation. Resection of the involved region cures most cases of focal HI. Therefore, preoperative identification and localization of focal HI lesions is useful for diagnostic confirmation and surgical guidance of patients with HI that fail pharmacological therapy and are being considered for surgery. Insulinomas are benign insulin secreting neuroendocrine neoplasms located in the pancreas. They are the most common cause of endogenous hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemia in adults. Approximately 90% are solitary, benign and \< 2cm in diameter and therefore represent a challenge to localize. The small size of insulinomas makes detection by conventional imaging techniques such as contrast-enhanced CT (ceCT) and contrast-enhanced MRI challenging. As surgery appears to be the only available treatment option, it remains very critical to localize the tumor to facilitate pancreas preserving surgery. Endoscopic ultrasound is well established in the detection of insulinomas. However, this technique is operator dependent, invasive, and the visualization of the pancreas tail is not always possible. Therefore better imaging techniques to detect these lesions are needed for surgical planning. Though not FDA approved, noninvasive imaging with 18F-fluoro-L-DOPA (FDOPA) is considered an integral part of standards of care management to identify focal lesions in CHI and potentially insulinomas. This is based on the fact that 18F-DOPA is selectively taken up by neuroendocrine cells, and thus, in focal HI, dense collections of endocrine cells can be visualized by an experienced radiologist. This study aims to determine if using combined positron emission tomography and magnetic resonance imaging will better localize the lesions and help the investigators determine which areas of the pancreas are affected, and assist with the surgical plan.

Interventions

DRUG18F-Fluoro Dopa PET/MRI Imaging

The purpose of this research study is to provide access to an imaging study of the pancreas that uses 6-\[18F\]-Fluoro-L-3,4,-dihydroxyphenylalanine (18F-DOPA)positron emission tomography (PET) and assess the accuracy of this 18F-DOPA-PET/MRI test on distinguishing what part of the pancreas is affected in patients with Hyperinsulinism.

Sponsors

St. Louis Children's Hospital
CollaboratorOTHER
Washington University School of Medicine
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
NA
Intervention model
SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose
DIAGNOSTIC
Masking
NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

1. Patients with confirmed hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemia, diagnosed by elevated insulin levels during hypoglycemia and/or response to glucagon stimulation. 2. Subjects who failed pharmacological therapy with diazoxide or octreotide. 3. Subjects with signed informed consent by themselves or their parents or legal guardians. 4. Patient's Endocrinologist has determined that the patient cannot be safely managed with standard medical therapy (failed) and surgery is recommended to prevent future episodes of severe hypoglycemia and preserve brain function.

Exclusion criteria

1. Any other major illness or condition that in the investigator's judgment will substantially increase the risk associated with the subject's participation in this study. 2. Patient must not have any contraindication to MRI as evaluated by a standardized MRI safety questionnaire. If MRI is contraindicated, and patient meets inclusion criteria and has no other contraindications study will be conducted in PET/CT scanner. 3. Cases in which surgery will not be considered by parents or guardians.

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Increase Access to 18F-DOPA PET/MRI (or PET/CT) for patients with HI who failed medical therapyone yearTo provide access to 18F-DOPA PET/MRI (or PET/CT) for patients with HI who do not respond to pharmacological therapy and are being considered for pancreatic surgery. We will measure this by totaling the number of scans performed yearly.

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Accuracy of 18FDOPA PET/MRI to identify focal forms of hyperinsulinism that may be cured by surgeryone yearTo identify if data from 18FDOPA PET/MRI imaging can accurately diagnose focal forms of HI when compared to the gold-standard of histopathological findings obtained at surgery in subjects who received a partial or complete pancreatectomy. Currently this type of isotope is not available for diagnosis, of insulinomas.

Countries

United States

Contacts

Primary ContactPamela S Stone, RN
stone.p@wustl.edu314-747-4659
Backup ContactAna Maria Arbelaez, MD, MSCI
aarbelaez@wustl.edu314-286-1138

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026