Am J Psychiatry 1988; 145:246-248
Copyright © 1988 by American Psychiatric Association
Characteristics of patients with the highest plasma catecholamine metabolite levels
MB Bowers Jr, ME Swigar, FJ Hoffman Jr and N Goicoechea
Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Conn.
The authors measured plasma levels of free homovanillic acid (HVA) and
3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenyl-glycol (MHPG) in 350 consecutive psychiatric
patients. Among the 22 patients with the highest values for both HVA and
MHPG, the primary diagnoses were psychotic disorders, eating disorders, and
major depression.
