To Moonferret:
 
        Adrenal surgery is necessary - but if your ferret has hypertrophic
cardiomyopathy, we need to proceed very carefully, and any vet who does the
surgery should be informed of this....
 
        Adrenal tumors rarely metastasize and often sit near veins, especially
if on the right.  They rarely if ever go into the vein, although there is a
large vein that passes directly over the middle of the right adrenal gland.  It
can be a tricky surgery, with most vets preferring to take little shavings off
the adrenal gland (I hate trying to look at these under a microscope!!!) rather
than risk a bold stroke and nick the vein.
 
        A tumor approaching 1 centimeter has a high possibility of being
malignant.  While not something to get worried about inthe short run, if left
alone two things may happen - 1) it get's so big it outgrows it's blood supply
and may rupture and bleed into the abdomen, or 2) metastasis (late inthe course
of disease).
 
        As far as medical options - there really are no good ones.
 
        My suggestion would be to have it removed.  If you don't mind a bit of a
drive - give Tom Kawasaki a call - (703) 690-2580 - he's probably done more than
anyone else on the East Coast, and has a higher success rate.  Plus, he's very
reasonably priced.
 
       Bruce Williams, DVM                 Department of Veterinary Pathology
       [log in to unmask]         Armed Forces Institute of Pathology
       (202) 782-2600/2602                 Washington, D.C.  20306-6000
 
[Posted in FML issue 0980]