Context: Congenital hyperinsulinism (HI) is a common cause of hypoglycemia in infancy. The medical treatment of diazoxide-unresponsive HI is based on a somatostatin analogue.
Objective: This study aims at replacing three daily s.c. octreotide (Sandostatin, Novartis) injections by a single and monthly i.m. injection of long-acting release (LAR) octreotide (Sandostatin LP, Novartis) in HI patients.
Subjects and method: LAR octreotide was injected every 4 weeks during 6 months and s.c. octreotide injections were stopped after the third injection of LAR octreotide. After this 6-month study, LAR octreotide was continued, with an average follow-up of 17 months. Ten HI pediatric patients unresponsive to diazoxide and currently treated with s.c. octreotide were included in the trial. Glycemias and other parameters (HbA1c, IGF1, height, weight, quality of life (QoL), and satisfaction) were monitored at each monthly visit.
Results: For all ten patients, glycemias were maintained in the usual range, HbAlc (mean 5.5%; 95% CI: 4.6-6.2) and IGF1 (mean 89.7 ng/ml; 95% CI: 26-153) were unchanged. Patients gained height significantly (mean 2.7 cm; 95% CI: 1.9-3.4) and no side effect was noted during the study and the later follow-up. Plasma octreotide levels were stable under LAR octreotide. Parents' questionnaires of general satisfaction were highly positive whereas children's QoL evaluation remained unchanged.
Conclusion: In these diazoxide-unresponsive HI patients, LAR octreotide was efficient, well tolerated and contributed to a clear simplification of the medical care.