| Summary: | OBJECTIVE: The purpose was to assess the value of venous catheter sampling as a method for the location of phaeochromocytomas, particularly when imaging techniques have been equivocal or ambiguous. DESIGN: Venous catheter sampling was carried out in cases of suspected phaeochromocytoma, and compared with samples obtained from other patients without phaeochromocytomas undergoing adrenal venous catheterization. PATIENTS: Three patients had phaeochromocytomas (subsequently confirmed by histology); five patients had no clinical or biochemical evidence of phaeochromocytoma but were being investigated for other conditions. MEASUREMENTS: Catecholamine and cortisol assays were performed on plasma samples from the adrenal veins and elsewhere, and the noradrenaline to adrenaline (NA:AD) ratio was calculated. RESULTS In patients without phaeochromocytomas the NA:AD ratio was less than 1 in nine adrenal vein samples; in four adrenal vein samples with NA:AD ratio of greater than 1, the presence of a phaeochromocytoma was subsequently confirmed. An extra-adrenal tumour was also located by comparison of central and peripheral venous catecholamine concentrations. CONCLUSIONS: Venous catheterization with measurements of catecholamines, and determination of NA:AD ratios, allows for the rapid and confident diagnosis and localization of unilateral, bilateral, and extra-adrenal phaeochromocytomas.
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