pentagastrin stimulation test (calcitonin-stimulation test)

Indications

• useful for assessing
  • C-cell hyperplasia of the thyroid
  • medullary thyroid carcinoma
  • multiple endocrine neoplasia-2

Adverse effects

• last about 2 minutes
  • epigastric tightness
  • nausea
  • warmth
  • tingling of extremities

Procedure

• measurement of baseline serum calcitonin
• injection of 5 ug/kg ideal body weight of pentagastrin
• measurement of serum calcitonin at 0, 2, 5, 10 & 15 min

More general terms

• provocative clinical test
• special chemistry test

Additional terms

• calcitonin in serum
• calcitonin; contains: katacalcin; calcitonin carboxyl-terminal peptide; CCP; PDN-21 (CALC, CALC1)
• medullary thyroid carcinoma