CAT Medicine Abbreviation

Catecholamine

An amine derived from the amino acid tyrosine -- examples include epinephrine, norepinephrine, and dopamine -- that act as hormones or neurotransmitters. There are a number of disorders involving catecholamines, including neuroblastoma, pheochromocytoma, chemodectina, the familial paraganglioma syndrome, dopamine--hydroxalase deficiency, and tetrahydrobiopterin deficiency Neuroblastoma is the second most common solid tumor in childhood. It usually produce catecholamines. The catecholamine metabolites vanillylmandelic acid and homovanillic acid can be measured quantitatively in the urine as a test for the disease.