Glucagonoma syndrome.

A 53-year-old Japanese man with a skin eruption characteristic of glucagonoma syndrome had had misdiagnoses for 10 years. The plasma glucagon level was not abnormally high on the first admission, and 4 years later the level was elevated as determined by the 30 gm arginine tolerance test. An alpha cell carcinoma detected in the tail of the pancreas was associated with a lymph node metastasis; the skin eruption cleared up 10 days after the partial pancreatectomy with lymphadenectomy. The clinical features of glucagonoma syndrome should be given attention.