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Professionals working in the Endocrinology and Surgery Departments performed a laparoscopic excision of the affected part of the pancreas and, since then, the patient has been able to stop taking medication and has had no low blood sugar episodes at all.
Ching-han, born in Barcelona to Taiwanese parents, was only seven months old when her parents decided to take her to Taiwan to meet the rest of her family. It was there that she started showing the first signs of health issues.
Her mother remembers the day when she suddenly started having some kind of convulsion or epileptic seizure. ‘We were so scared because it was the first time we had seen her like that, and we took her straight to the emergency room.’ Staff at the Taiwan hospital who examined the girl found that she had very low blood sugar levels, and she was given treatment for hypoglycemia.
In the morning, the family cut their holiday short and had to return to Barcelona. Once back home, they decided to take Ching-han to an urgent primary care facility. The pediatrician who examined Ching-han decided she should be transferred by ambulance to SJD Barcelona Children's Hospital, where she was admitted.
A rare disease
Staff in the Endocrinology Department diagnosed the girl with hyperinsulinism, a rare disease that affects between 30,000 and 50,000 newborns. In affected infants, the pancreas produces too much insulin, causing recurring low blood sugar episodes. Left untreated, infants can suffer from apnea, convulsions and neurological effects. The girl started a treatment, but the mother recalls that ‘it didn’t work’, adding that ‘it made her unwell and didn’t manage to stabilise her blood sugar.’
It was then that the medical team decided to perform some additional tests to determine whether the girl's condition was focal, meaning occurring in a very specific part of the pancreas, or diffuse, meaning it involved the entire organ. ‘In cases of focal hyperinsulinism, the disease is curable. But diffuse cases require lifelong drug treatment. If the patient does not respond, the other option is essentially removing the entire pancreas, meaning the patient will develop diabetes and need treatment for the rest of her or his life,’ explained endocrinologist Roque Cardona, Head of the Diabetes Unit at SJD Barcelona Children's Hospital.
Studies showed that Ching-han had focal hyperinsulinism, which meant it could be treated and cured with surgery. According to Xavier Tarrado, Head of the SJD Surgery Department, the operation was done laparoscopically. It involved a partial pancreatectomy, or excision of the affected pancreas, measuring around two centimetres. To put that into perspective, the entire pancreas of such a young patient is just six centimetres long. After the operation, her medication was able to be suspended and she suffered no further low blood sugar episodes.
Ching-han's family, who have been living in Barcelona for the last two years, cannot help making comparisons. ‘The medical system in Taiwan is very good, but here it is excellent. We were very surprised that SJD Barcelona Children's Hospital not only concerns itself with the health of its pediatric patients, but also with their emotional well-being by organising lots of different activities and events so that their experience is as pleasant as possible. They don't just work hard for the children, but also for the family’, said the mother.
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