From:
dr_bruce_williams
Date: 2002-01-11 00:38:00 UTC
Subject: Re: possible hemangiosarcoma in ferret spleen?
--- In Ferret-Health-list@y..., "Holly Gorrell" <hgorrell@c...> wrote:
> Her spleen was huge (knew this prior to the surgery) and had a huge
tumor on it. He called it a hemangiosarcoma. He admits that he is
not terribly knowledgeable about these tumors in ferrets. He knows
they are bad news in dogs. He is sending it off for further
analysis. He also said he will do some research into the topic. He
said there is a possibility it could be a hemangioma, which I gather
is a better diagnosis than hemangiosarcoma (at least in dogs).
>
> I guess I'm just asking for any information anyone can give me on
the topic. I would like to know more what to expect. Is this very
likely going to be a problem or is the prognosis still pretty
hopeful? I know ferret spleens are odd. Is there a good chance he
could be mistaken about the hemangiosarcoma? He is a very good vet,
but admits he does not know everything there is to know about
ferrets. He really likes them and seems willing to make an effort to
learn.
>
Dear Holly:
Rule #1: Don't get all worked up until biopsies come back - if
necessary, you can always panic then.
Actually, I cam currently working on a case of 15 hemagniosarcomas -
three were in the spleen. One had disseminated hemangiosarcoma all
over the abdomen, and that animal died, but when it was opened up at
surgery, it was a mess, and there were no surprises.
The other two hemangiosarcomas were confined to the spleen, the
spleen was removed, and the animals did well.
In dogs, this is a common tumor, and the prognosis is not good - many
metastasize widely. I would like to thing that this is not the case
in ferrets, and the prognosis is better, but right now we just
haven't seen enough of these rare tumors.
Could he be wrong? Sure. Not all big ugly black lesions on ferret
spleens are tumors - some could be infarcts, which readily happen
when the spleen is enlarged for any reason. I have had a number of
infarcts submitted as tumors. It could also be a hematoma, from a
rupture of a splenic vessel - these can be big and ugly.
The key to spleens - it is really difficult for anyone, even
pathologists with many years of experience, to tell grossly whether a
splenic lesion is a neoplasm, a hematoma, an area of hyperplasia, etc.
That's why we have microscopes.
With kindest regards,
Bruce Williams,d VM