Urinanalysis (Neuroblastoma)

tuab_30a_n.jpg: Examinations of urine catecholamines on follow-up in an 1.1-year-old patient. The values of vanillylmandelic acid (= VMA, black columns) in the urine are dinstinctly increased prior to and shortly after surgery and remain thereafter within the normal limits. At that time an after-treatment has been performed with irradiation. tuab_30b_n.jpg: Examinations uf urine catecholamines on follow-up in two patients with a different course of the disease. The same as in tuab_30a_n.jpg is the case with patient II at the bottom in the figure. In contrast to patient II the values of the catecholamines continuously increase in patient I at the top in the figure in spite of the same therapy, and death occurs 7 months after beginning of the treatment. On work-up examinations of abdominal and retroperitoneal tumors most of the suspected neuroblastomas may be diagnosed or excluded by urine analysis (initial screening by a VMA spot test followed by a quantitative determination of all relevant catecholamine by-products by 24-hour urinary collection). This examination allows a further differentiation from a Wilms' tumor.