Test Detects Adrenal Tumor

Pheochromocytoma is a tumor of the adrenal gland that is uncommon but can be fatal.  Researchers say the condition is genetic. Symptoms include a rise in blood pressure. The condition can be cured, according to a study in this week's Journal of the American Medical Association, if detected and treated early.

Jacques W.M. Lenders, M.D., Ph.D., of St. Radboud University Medical Center in the Netherlands, formulated a study to determine the most effective way to test for the tumor. Dr. Lenders and colleagues gathered data from blood and urine tests of 214 patients confirmed to have a pheochromocytoma. The data was compared to that of 644 patients who did not have a tumor.

The data was analyzed using a variety of biochemical tests and combination of tests.

In the end, Dr. Lenders and colleagues determined a test measuring levels of metanephrines, a substance produced during the metabolism of adrenaline, is the most accurate way to detect the tumor. Dr. Lenders writes, "About 80 percent of patients with the pheochromocytoma tumor have an increase in plasma free metanephrines so large ... the tumor can be confirmed with close to 100-percent probability."

Dr. Lenders goes on to say that a negative result when testing for metanephrines virtually excludes the chance that the tumor is present.

SOURCE:  The Journal of the American Medical Association, 2002;287:1427-1434

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