Pancreatic Tumor Presenting as Diarrhea

Excerpt

VIPoma, Verner-Morrison syndrome, is a rare functioning neuroendocrine tumor that secretes vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP). It is also known as pancreatic cholera or WDHA syndrome (watery diarrhea, hypokalemia and hypo or achlorhydria). Verner and Morrison first described the symptoms of VIPoma in 1958 as watery diarrhea, hypokalemia and achlorhydria [1]. Approximately 90 % of cases arise from the pancreas but they may also occur in periganglionic tissue or other locations such as the adrenals, colon, bronchus, liver and sympathetic ganglia. VIPomas are found to be malignant in about 60–80 % cases and are metastatic at the time of diagnosis, with the liver being the most common site of metastasis [2]. Herein, we present a patient with chronic diarrhea who was found to have VIPoma and did well after surgical resection. …