From:
"Sukie Crandall"
Date: 2006-12-03 19:10:51 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Re: New Insulinoma diagnosis
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
Excellent resource:
http://www.afip.org/ferrets/PDF/insulinoma.pdf
If necropsy photos bother you then print in B&W and cover with post-its.
Let the treating vet decide treatment. Sometimes further blood tests
show too much "off" and it turns out that lymphoma or carcinoma is
present instead of insulinoma. Surgery will not help those individuals.
Insulinoma is the gentlest of the three. Lymphoma is in the middle and
carcinoma is the worst.
When insulinoma is caught early enough surgery can can be 60% curative,
with a partial pancreatomy working better than a lump removal BUT we have
had a ferret vet who was so good at microscopic surgery and feeling for sand
grain size tumors that his rate as better than usual. He has since moved away
for family reasons. In study medication gave the shortest survival but there are
definitely exceptions.
When insulinoma is advanced some vets skip surgery but others have had good
luck with it then.
The medications used are steroids such as Prednisolone (which should be given
with food) and Diazoxide. Some ferrets respond wonderfully to Diazoxide while
others don't respond to it at all. When tried, it is best to buy a small amount for
a trial first.
From
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/SG8107
Weiss CA, Williams BH, Scott MV.
Related Articles, Links
Insulinoma in the ferret: clinical findings and treatment comparison of 66 cases.
J Am Anim Hosp Assoc. 1998 Nov-Dec;34(6):471-5.
PMID: 9826281 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Hopefully, this will give you a direct link:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?
field=UID&db=PubMed&term=9826281
Otherwise, search the way that I did.
It did not show the full article but if you select the text icon you will get:
>The clinical signs and surgical findings were reported for 66 ferrets with
>insulinomas confirmed histologically. All of the ferrets were treated with one of
>three modalities, and disease-free intervals and survival times were gathered to
>determine the most effective treatment. The three treatment groups included 10
>ferrets treated medically, 27 ferrets treated with pancreatic nodulectomy, and 29
>ferrets treated with pancreatic nodulectomy combined with a partial
>pancreatectomy. The mean disease-free intervals for each group were 22, 234,
>and 365 days, respectively. The mean survival times for each group were 186,
>456, and 668 days, respectively. Based upon the data, recommendations were
>made for treating insulinoma in the ferret.
PMID: 9826281 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Sukie (not a vet)
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