Specimen Collection

HMMA is no longer offered. Please request urine dopamine and HVA for diagnosis of neuroblastoma, and metanephrines (urine/plasma) for phaeochromocytoma/paraganglioma.

Reference Intervals

24 Hour Urine:

Age	24 hr HMMA	HMMA / Creatinine
Units:	(umol/d)	(umol/mmol)
10 - < 15 years	<32	<6
15 years and older	<47	<5

Random urine:

Age	HMMA / Creatinine (umol/mmol)
< 3 months	<21
3 months - < 1 year	<14
1 year - < 2 years	<15
2 years - < 5 years	<11
5 years - < 10 years	<8
10 years - < 15 years	<4

Uncertainty of Measurement: 12%

Turnaround Time: Within 1 week
Diagnostic Use and Interpretation

Urine metanephrines or plasma metanephrines are the primary tests of choice for diagnosing phaeochromocytomas.

Urine dopamine and HVA ( homovanillic acid) are the primary tests of choice for diagnosing neuroblastomas.

HMMA may be helpful in some cases where results of the primary tests are inconclusive.

See also:

• homovanillic acid
• catecholamines
• metanephrines

Contact Information

Emails to chemicalpathologist@adhb.govt.nz will receive priority attention from the on-call chemical pathologist.

If the query concerns a specific patient please include the NHI number in your email.

If email is not a suitable option, please contact the on-call chemical pathologist via Lablink (Auckland City Hospital ext. 22000 or 09-3078995).

Individual chemical pathologists may be contacted but will not be available at all times.

After-hours : contact Lablink (Auckland City Hospital ext. 22000 or 09-3078995) or hospital operator for on duty staff after hours.

Dr Samarina Musaad (Clinical Lead) : SamarinaM@adhb.govt.nz ext. 22402

Dr Cam Kyle: CampbellK@adhb.govt.nz ext 22052

Dr Weldon Chiu: WeldonC@adhb.govt.nz ext. 23427

Dr Campbell Heron: CHeron@adhb.govt.nz ext. 23427

Dr Sakunthala Jayasinghe: Sakunthala@adhb.govt.nz ext. 23427

Last updated at 15:26:00 06/01/2025