This is a special scan to find out if only one part of the pancreas is affected. This is called a focal lesion or focal Congenital Hyperinsulinism (CHI). Focal CHI can be treated by an operation to the part of the pancreas affected with CHI. The rest of the pancreas is left alone, which means that after focal surgery, the child is cured. The scan may show that the whole pancreas is equally affected; this is called diffuse CHI. For diffuse CHI, the best option is treatment with medicines. If medicines do not work, then surgery to remove most of the pancreas may have to be done.
Not many centres treating children with CHI around the world have facilities for this scan as the dye 18-fluoro-Dopa has to be specially made. For the scan your child will be put to sleep with a general anaesthetic. The Doctors and nurses treating your child will discuss the procedure of the scan in a lot of detail.