Question:easy

VMA is excreted in the urine in which condition?

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VMA is a catecholamine breakdown product - which tumour overproduces catecholamines?
Updated On: Jun 23, 2026
  • Alkaptonuria
  • Phenylketonuria
  • Pheochromocytoma
  • Diabetic ketoacidosis
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The Correct Option is C

Solution and Explanation

Step 1: Trace the molecule backwards. VMA is what is left after the body fully degrades the stress hormones epinephrine and norepinephrine.
Step 2: Any tumour that floods the body with catecholamines must also flood it with their breakdown products. The adrenal medulla tumour pheochromocytoma does exactly this, so the urine fills with VMA.
Step 3: Because of this, a 24-hour urinary VMA is one of the standard biochemical screens for pheochromocytoma, and the same logic makes it useful for the childhood tumour neuroblastoma.
Step 4: Match the other options to their own markers - homogentisic acid for alkaptonuria, phenylketones for phenylketonuria, ketone bodies for diabetic ketoacidosis - and it is clear none of them produces VMA.
\[\boxed{\text{Pheochromocytoma}}\]
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