Life-threating diarrhea and acute renal failure secondary to pancreatic VIPoma treated by surgery.

ABSTRACT

Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors represent less than 5% of all pancreatic tumors. They are a heterogeneous group of neoplasms with a diverse behavior and prognosis. Pancreatic vasoactive intestinal polypeptide tumor (VIPoma) is an exceptional tumor within this group due to its low incidence. The presence of pancreatic VIPoma should be clinically suspected in all patients with watery diarrhea, particularly when accompanied by a loss of potassium and bicarbonate and a pancreatic mass on imaging. There are other pathologies with similar symptoms; therefore, a correct differential diagnosis with an adequate treatment is essential for its management. We present the case of a 46-year-old patient who developed a prerenal kidney failure secondary to severe watery diarrhea after a diagnosis of pancreatic VIPoma. Thus, a resection was performed as the patient was rapidly deteriorating and required an intervention.