Dr. Khalid Hussain, a leading pediatric endocrinologist specializing in congenital hyperinsulinism (HI) presented information on the use of long-acting octreotide as a medical therapy for patients with HI at the Congenital Hyperinsulinism International Endocrine Society Meeting in Berkeley, California on June 15, 2013.
Dr. Hussain presented information on published studies and on an ongoing study at the Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) in London, where Dr. Hussain is a reader and consultant. GOSH is a leading center for research on and treatment of HI.
Dr. Hussain’s presentation was of great interest to HI patients and parents of HI patients attending the meeting. Meeting participants had many questions for Dr. Hussain because of the positive results of the studies. For the GOSH patients involved in the study, long-acting octreotide is administered every four weeks and the patients are followed in a clinic setting.
HI patients who rely on short-acting octreotide as a medical therapy for HI are typically on multiple injections each day or they are on a subcutaneous infusion via a pump designed for insulin. HI families at the meeting were very interested in the report because long-acting octreotide has the potential to be a less involved treatment because only one injection every four weeks is required.
Dr. Pratik Shah, Clinical Research Fellow at GOSH and fellow researcher of the study will present on this work in Milan on September 18, 2013 at the 5th Congenital Hyperinsulinism International Family Meeting.
The slides to Dr Hussain’s Berkeley talk are linked here.
