From:
Bruce Williams, DVM
Date: 2001-11-04 14:19:00 UTC
Subject: Re: Histiocytoma- in spleen and other organs
--- In Ferret-Health-list@y..., elnrrgby1@a... wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I just had an exploratory on my ferret, Bhut, last week. I've
posted about
> him before....the possible lymphoma that's never been diagnosed.
Anyway, his
> spleen was getting huge and his belly was painful, and he was also
showing
> potential adrenal signs, so we did an exploratory. Once in, the
doctor
> called me and said "it's bad". The liver is completely covered in
hard,
> white nodules that are 1-3 mm in size. The spleen was gray/black
with
> nodules through it. Abdominal lymph nodes extremely enlarged.
Because of
> the condition of the liver, I opted for him to just take the spleen
and
> anything else he could take that looked funky (he was worried about
the liver
> looking friable in places and worried about the possibility of a
major
> hemorrhage if he did more). He ended up taking the spleen, one
lymph node
> that was adhered to the spleen, and some fatty tissue that had
nodules in it
> as well. We sent half of the tissue samples to Purdue University
for
> histopathology and I have the other half here in case Dr. Williams
is
> interested in them.
>
> Anyway, the reason I'm writing is because the preliminary report is
stating
> that this is a histiocytoma. The doctor told me that the
pathologist also
> said that it was related to a sarcoma and very aggressive and that
there were
> no treatment options other than palliative care. The final report
should be
> done within the week I think, and I'll post that information once I
get it if
> anyone is interested.
Dear Stacia -
Why don't you send me the remainder of the tissue. Histiocytoma is
not an appropriate diagnosis for a ferret - I am hopeful that this
diagnosis will be amended. The research that you have done on
histiocytomas is correct - these are skin tumors of dogs and have no
bearing on ferrets.
Spleens can be confusing - extramedullary hematopoesis is the most
common cause of enlarged spleen and can look very much like a
neoplasm. Of course, we have also been talking about lymphoma and
Bhut for quite a while now, and perhaps it has finally shown up.
Also remember that none of Bhut's biopsies have been straightforward
to date, and I wouldn't expect this one to be easy, either.
With kindest regards,
Bruce Williams, DVM