Comparative study of plasma epinephrine and norepinephrine concentrations during hemodialysis: measurement by high-performance liquid chromatography versus radioenzymatic assay.

We measured epinephrine and norepinephrine levels simultaneously using two methods of detection of catecholamines in plasma--radioenzymatic assay and high-performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection. Measurements were made in 15 stable patients during hemodialysis. No statistical differences in intradialysis plasma concentrations were found for epinephrine or norepinephrine, and no statistical differences were found between the values of epinephrine and norepinephrine using the two different methods. No significant decrement in epinephrine or norepinephrine concentrations during the dialysis procedure was detected regardless of the method used. We conclude that the hemodialysis procedure does not affect the concentration of plasma catecholamines and that the two methods of detecting plasma catecholamines in patients with renal failure are equally accurate.