The aim of the study was to assess the relation between urinary excretion of epinephrine and norepinephrine, and stroke severity, prognosis and standard biochemical investigations in acute phase of ischaemic stroke. The study was done on the material of 36 patients (17 women and 19 men, aged 41-89 years, mean: 69 +/- 13 years) admitted to the stroke unit of the Neurology Department within 24 hours (mean: 7.7 hours), after the first ever ischaemic stroke affecting the territory of the internal carotid artery circulation, confirmed by CT. Patients with the history of diabetes mellitus, cardiac insufficiency and infection on admission were excluded from the study. The 24-hour urine collection for catecholamines (epinephrine and norepinephrine) was done on the first and third day of hospitalization. An even single increased daily excretion of epinephrine (> 10 micrograms/24 hr) was found in 21 and norepinephrine (> 50 micrograms/24 hr) in 10 of 36 patients. No correlation between daily excretion of epinephrine and norepinephrine was found. Statistical analysis revealed a significant relation between norepinephrine, but not epinephrine, and neurological deficit, prognosis and some biochemical parameters of investigated patients. Patients with increased daily excretion of norepinephrine showed worse neurological deficit (p < 0.01), greater mortality assessed on the 30-th and 90-th day of stroke (p < 0.05) and increased plasma glucose, sedimentation rate, white blood cells count, creatinine kinase activity as well as microalbuminuria and decreased plasma kalium concentration.