Radioimmunoassay of chromogranin A and free metanephrines in diagnosis of pheochromocytoma.

This work discusses the clinical performance of chromogranin A, free metanephrine and normetanephrine determination in plasma using a radioimmunoanalytical methods for the diagnosis of pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma. Blood samples were collected from 55 patients (46 pheochromocytomas, 9 paragangliomas). A sampling of biological materials was performed preoperatively and about one week, six months and one year after adrenal gland surgery. The comparative group without a diagnosis of pheochromocytoma/paraganglioma consisted of 36 pheochromocytoma/paraganglioma patients more than 4 months after adrenal gland surgery, and of 87 patients, 16 of them with multiple endocrine neoplasia, 9 with medullary and 5 with parafolicullar carcinoma of the thyroid gland. The rest were patients with various adrenal gland disorders. Chromogranin A, metanephrine and normetanephrine were determined in the EDTA-plasma using a radioimmunoassay kits Cisbio Bioassays, France and IBL International GmbH, Germany. Clinical sensitivity was 96 % for the combination of metanephrine and normetanephrine, and 93 % for chromogranin A. Clinical specificity was 100 % for the combination metanephrine and normetanephrine, and 96 % for chromogranin A. Falsely elevated levels of chromogranin A were observed in 1 patient with chronic renal insufficiency and 9 analyses were influenced by the administration of proton pump inhibitors. These results were excluded of CGA specificity. Both the combination of plasma free metanephrine, normetanephrine and chromogranin A as determined by radioimmunoassays, which are simple without the necessity of special laboratory material, are effective markers of pheochromocytoma or paraganglioma. Chromogranin A exerts association to malignity and all markers are associated with tumor mass.