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JAMA. 1970;211(2):292-293.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

The phentolamine test for pheochromocytoma is simple, inexpensive, and readily available. But, unlike direct measurement of the excretion of catecholamines or their metabolites, it is not sufficiently specific always to provide a definitive diagnosis. False-positive responses reflected in a blood pressure decline of 35/25 mm Hg or more, have been obtained in patients with essential hypertension, cerebrovascular accidents, uremia, and in hypertensive patients treated with reserpine and other drugs. With its specificity thus limited, the phentolamine test can be viewed only as a screening procedure in hypertensive patients rather than as a completely dependable diagnostic tool.

Spergel and associates, in this issue (p 266), have sharpened the diagnostic potential of phentolamine by exploiting the latter's effect on responses to glucose load. Norepinephrine is known to inhibit pancreatic secretion of insulin, thereby decreasing glucose tolerance. Phentolamine, of course, can be expected to reverse these changes. These expectations were fulfilled in three . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

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