Web: | mayocliniclabs.com |
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Email: | mcl@mayo.edu |
Telephone: | 800-533-1710 |
International: | +1 855-379-3115 |
Values are valid only on day of printing. |
Screening children for catecholamine-secreting tumors with a 24-hour urine collection when requesting homovanillic acid only
Monitoring neuroblastoma treatment
Screening patients with possible inborn errors of catecholamine metabolism
Homovanillic acid (HVA) measurement in urine is used for screening children for catecholamine-secreting tumors such as neuroblastoma, pheochromocytoma, and other neural crest tumors and monitoring those who have had treatment for these tumors.
HVA measurement is also useful to diagnose children with disorders of catecholamine metabolism such as monoamine oxidase-A deficiency and dopamine beta-hydroxylase deficiency, which results in either decreased or elevated urinary HVA values, respectively.
Treatment with L-dopa can impact test results and should be discontinued 24 hours prior to collection. Bactrim can impact test results and should be noted at time of collection.
Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS/MS)