 Since the half-life of dopamine in plasma is short—approximately one minute in adults, two minutes in newborn babies and up to five minutes in preterm babies—it is usually given as a continuous intravenous drip rather than a single injection.A fluorinated form of L-DOPA known as fluorodopa is available for use in positron emission tomography to assess the function of the nigrostriatal pathway.Dopamine should generally not be given to people who have a pheochromocytoma or uncorrected very fast heart rate.