Studies of Catecholamine Excretion by Children with Neural Tumors*

The urinary excretion of dopamine, norepinephrine, epinephrine, metanephrine-normetanephrine and 3-methoxy-4- hydroxymandelic acid was measured in 17 children with tumors of neural crest origin; in 13 alterations in catecholamine metabolism were demonstrated. There were no apparent abnormalities in catecholamine excretion in 4 patients with “cured” neuroblastoma and in 7 with a variety of tumors not of neural crest origin. A preliminary biochemical classification of patients with neural tumors is suggested, based on the urinary excretion of catecholamines and metabolites.