Linked Life Data

18491252

Source:http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/id/18491252

Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
5
pubmed:dateCreated
2008-5-20
pubmed:abstractText
Findings from five independent studies - with close to 350 patients with pheochromocytoma and more than 2,500 in whom the tumor was excluded - indicate that measurements of plasma free metanephrines provide an overall diagnostic sensitivity of 98% and specificity of 92%. The recommendation that initial testing for the tumor should always include measurements of either plasma or urinary fractionated metanephrines results from recognition of the high diagnostic sensitivity of measurements of plasma metanephrines. The few patients with pheochromocytoma in whom the test may not yield a positive result include those with very small tumors or microscopic disease and others with tumors that do not produce norepinephrine and epinephrine. Such patients are typically normotensive and do not exhibit symptoms of catecholamine excess. Additional measurements of methoxytyramine can be useful for detecting those tumors that produce only dopamine. Suboptimal diagnostic specificity and difficulties in distinguishing true- from false-positive elevations of plasma metanephrines remain challenges for diagnosis. Improvements in analytical technology (e.g., liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry) and new strategies for follow-up testing provide possible solutions to these problems. The single most important remaining clinical care challenge is the development of effective cures for patients with malignant disease. Current treatments, none of which are truly satisfactory, include chemotherapy and radiopharmaceutical therapy with (131)I-labelled M-iodobenzylguanidine or radioactive somatostatin analogues. Improvements in treatment may in the future come from several fronts, but proof of efficacy ideally will require well-coordinated multicenter prospective trials in larger numbers of patients than in previous studies.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
May
pubmed:issn
0018-5043
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
40
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
329-37
pubmed:dateRevised
2009-2-19
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
2008
pubmed:articleTitle
Current progress and future challenges in the biochemical diagnosis and treatment of pheochromocytomas and paragangliomas.
pubmed:affiliation
Institute of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus Dresden, Germany. graeme.eisenhofer@uniklinikum-dresden.de
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Review