Catecholamines

Injury	Disease	Nutrition	Poison

Symptoms	Surgery	Test	Special Topic

Female urinary tract

Male urinary tract

Catecholamine urine test

Overview

Risks

Results

Catecholamines - urine

Alternative Names:

Dopamine-urine test; Epinephrine-urine test; Adrenalin-urine test; Vanillylmandelic acid (VMA); Urine metanephrine; Normetanephrine; Norepinephrine-urine test; Urine catecholamines; VMA; HVA; Metanephrine; Homovanillic acid (HVA)

Normal Values:

VMA: 2 to 7 mg/24-hours
epinephrine: 0.5 to 20 mcg/24-hours
norepinephrine: 15 to 80 mcg/24-hours
dopamine: 65 to 400 mcg/24-hours
metanephrine: 24 to 96 mcg/24-hours (some laboratories give the range as 140 to 785 mcg/24-hours)
normetanephrine: 75 to 375 mcg/24-hours
total urine catecholamines: 14 to 110 mcg/24-hours

Note: mg/hour = milligrams per hour; mcg/hour = micrograms per hour.

What abnormal results mean:

Elevated levels of urinary catecholamines may indicate:

acute anxiety
ganglioblastoma (very rare)
ganglioneuroma (very rare)
neuroblastoma (rare)
pheochromocytoma (rare)
severe stress

Additional conditions under which the test may be performed:

multiple endocrine neoplasia (MEN) II

References:

The Neuroblastoma Hope Foundation. Diagnostic Criteria.Available at: http://www.acor.org/nbl/diagnost.htm. Accessed May 17, 2005.

Wilson SP, Kamin DL, Feldman JM. Acetaminophen administration interferes with urinary metanephrine (and catecholamine) determinations. Clin Chem. 1985;31(6):1093-4.

Review Date: 5/17/2005
Reviewed By: Nikheel S. Kolatkar, MD, Clinical and Research Fellow, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Hypertension, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.

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