Management of Carcinoid Syndrome

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Abstract
IT HAS BEEN little more than 75 years since carcinoid was first recognized1,2,3 and prior to 1939 no case of carcinoid was properly diagnosed preoperatively.4 During the past five years increasing information has resulted in frequent recognition and successful treatment of this malignant tumor. What was considered a short time ago to be a rare and peculiar tumor is rapidly gaining prominence in both clinical practice and medical literature. The carcinoid syndrome first described by Thomson5 in 1954 accompanies only a small fraction of carcinoid tumors and yet it has become so commonly recognized today that one wonders what became of such patients prior to 1954. The disturbed tryptophan metabolism associated with carcinoid tumors has been elaborated and repeatedly reported and while it is not entirely understood, many facts about it and its relationship to clinical symptoms have been established. Since Lembeck6 first reported the presence