From:
Pam Sessoms
Date: 2002-02-24 15:44:00 UTC
Subject: Re: Relationship between AV node block and insulinoma -
Vets?? (long)
Shelly,
> could there be a link between the insulinoma (which now seems to be
> taken care of - glucoses so far are good) and the AV node block?
I'm not a vet or a vet student or a tech or anything like that...
But your post was very interesting because I have recently lost two
fabulous old lady ferrets and they both did have insulinoma and 2nd degree
AV block. I never thought about a link; both of these were old girls -
Sunny died very late in her 7th year and Sonic made it to 8 - and were
pretty much falling apart in several different ways. They both had been
dealing with insulinoma for a long time and then later also dilated
cardiomyopathy. They both eventually had profound arrhythmias, even to my
untrained ears and fingertips (it was so pronounced I could feel it just
by holding my fingers against the chest) so ECGs via CardioPet were done,
and the AV block was found. Anyway, I just sort of chalked it up to both
insulinoma and heart disease being very, very common and so figured it
wasn't that odd to see both. But now that you mention it, perhaps there
is something going on... It'll be interesting to see if anyone has any ideas.
> Also, has anyone else had experience with ferret hearts seeming to fix
> themselves?
Sadly, I haven't seen that yet. Sunny's cardiomyopathy responded very
well to treatment but was eventually terminal. Sonic's was progressing
very quickly when we let her go because of many, many problems... But
with a grand total of two so far, that doesn't really mean much.
Good luck!
-Pam S.