From:
dr_bruce_williams
Date: 2001-12-11 12:59:00 UTC
Subject: Re: question about pituitary tumors
--- In Ferret-Health-list@y..., Sukie Crandall <sukiecrandall@t...>
wrote:
>
> --
> I have certainly read that brain tumors are very, very rare, but am
> wondering if some of the cases in which one is suspect due to
> symptoms like seizures, and hormonal problems exist (such as
> adrenal-like or heat-like symptoms even when surgery finds no
> problem), or insulinoma-like symptoms without insulinoma, if
perhaps
> the pituitary could be involved due to its regulation of endocrine
> glands? If so, is it possible that more readily available methods
> other than CAT scans might be of use for diagnoses given its
location
> and function? Have no idea, myself.
Dear Sukie:
Have never seen a case of pituitary-related hyperadrenocorticism in a
ferret - although this is fairly common in dogs. Have only seen one
pituitary tumor (although I RARELY ever see pituitaries, unless I do
the necropsy), and it was not clinically significant.
And, rarely can tumors in and around the pituitary result in clinical
signs as a result of compression of the brain - the pituitary lives
in a small depression at the base of the brain. In dogs, these
tumors may cause blindness or seizures if they grow enough to
compress the overlying brain. Most commonly, they cause clinical
signs referable to hormonal derangement, as the pituitary is the site
of regulation of a number of hormones, including regulating the
release of adrenal hormones.
With kindest regards,
Bruce Williams, DVM