THE EPINEPHRINE EFFECT IN SELECTIVE RENAL ANGIOGRAPHY.

The powerful vasoconstrictor effect of minute intra-arterial injections of epinephrine on normal arteries can be demonstrated readily by angiography. On the assumption that tumor vessels might not respond as readily to this vasoconstrictor, Abrams, Boijsen, and Borgstrom (3) proposed the use of epinephrine to direct contrast material selectively into neoplastic tissue. Subsequently, in a case reported by Abrams (1, 2), this relative increase in tumor circulation was demonstrated in a patient with renal-cell carcinoma. A study of a group of patients undergoing selective renal angiography with epinephrine, in addition to substantiating Abrams' hypothesis, reveals that the effect of this drug is much more complicated than was proposed previously. Other uses for epinephrine in angiography are suggested by this investigation. Methods and Materials Seventeen patients undergoing retrograde femoral selective renal angiography were studied with epinephrine. Six had malignant tumors which derived their blood supply...