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Michael W. Hanson, MD; Jerome M. Feldman, MD; Craig A. Beam, PhD; George S. Leight, MD; R. Edward Coleman, MD

Arch Intern Med. 1991;151(7):1397-1402.

Abstract
Detection of abnormal catecholamine levels and localization of tumor mass are important factors in the diagnosis and treatment of pheochromocytoma. Iodine 131—labeled metaiodobenzylguanidine scintigraphy was performed in 64 patients with suspected pheochromocytoma if their urinary catecholamine levels were borderline or elevated, or if the clinical suspicion for pheochromocytoma was high in spite of normal urinary catecholamine determinations. The¹³¹I-metaiodobenzylguanidine scans were evaluated for abnormal localization of tracer. Twenty-four—hour urine collections were analyzed for vanillylmandelic acid, homovanillic acid, dopamine, epinephrine, and norepinephrine. Thirty of the 64 patients had pheochromocytomas. The¹³¹ I-metaiodobenzylguanidine scan had a sensitivity and a specificity of 88%. The 24-hour urine vanillylmandelic acid and norepinephrine measurements had the best sensitivity (97%), while the vanillylmandelic acid and homovanillic acid measurements had the best specificity (91%). In patients in whom the vanillylmandelic acid measurement and the¹³¹ I-metaiodobenzylguanidine scan were normal, no pheochromocytomas were found. In patients in whom the vanillylmandelic acid measurement and¹³¹ I-metaiodobenzylguanidine scan were abnormal, a pheochromocytoma was always present. The¹³¹I-metaiodobenzylguanidine scan often documents the presence or absence of a pheochromocytoma and provides localization of the tumor in the preoperative evaluation of these patients.

(Arch Intern Med. 1991;151:1397-1402)

Author Affiliations
From the Departments of Radiology (Drs Hanson, Beam, and Coleman), Medicine (Dr Feldman), and Surgery (Dr Leight), Duke University Medical Center, and the Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center (Dr Feldman), Durham, NC.

Footnotes
Accepted for publication December 31, 1990.

Read before the 37th Annual Meeting of the Society of Nuclear Medicine, Washington, DC, June 20, 1990.

Reprint requests to Department of Radiology, Duke University Medical Center, PO Box 3949, Durham, NC 27710 (Dr Hanson).

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