From:
Bruce Williams, DVM
Date: 2001-04-21 15:49:00 UTC
Subject: Re: Tumor? in ear, shrinking spleen, vet leaving!
--- In Ferret-Health-list@y..., "K. Crassi" <ricochet@m...> wrote:
> Dr. Wade called me this afternoon. She said (while admitting she's
not a
> pathologist), that the cells look glandular in origin, and also look
> cancerous. Multinucleated, dividing, and otherwise weird-looking.
There
> are no mast cells, and few or no bacteria (a couple of weeks ago
there were
> lots of bugs, so the Tresaderm has helped). She thinks it's
probably an
> adenocarcinoma of an ear wax gland.
>
> The black dots themselves look fine. They aren't doing anything
besides
> sitting there, and they are in the outer folds of the ear. The
tumor is
> down right next to or over the eardrum. She thinks he might not be
able to
> hear much on that side. So we're just going to watch it for now,
and try
> the steroid drops and see what happens. Is there anything else
that could
> be done? Has something like this ever been removed successfully?
Honestly, watching a potential malignancy does not make a terrible
lot of sense, nor does putting steroid drops in the ear. If you can
see the neoplasm, you should be able to excise at least part of it,
at least enough to allow you to make a definitive diagnosis. We may
find that this is simply a benign polyp, and radical surgery is not
warranted.
Can a malignancy at this site be removed - well, there are techniques
(such as ear ablation) that will allow the majority to be removed. A
true malignancy of the ceruminal glands just in fron of the eardrum
would certainly pose a problem to excise completely - but it is a far
cry from putting steroid drops on it and "watching" it.
If you are willing to do the surgery, I think that you can probably
find someone - either Dr. Wade or a surgical specialist, that can do
it for you.
With kindest regards,
Bruce H. Williams, DVM, DACVP
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