To Margaret Kramer:
 
    I'm glad that you pushed the vet.  And thrilled that Nikki's surgery
came out all right.
 
>After the surgery, the vet said he wasn't sure because both glands looked
>about the same, but the left was maybe a little larger so he took it out.
>The vet removed her left adrenal based on statistics - not on what he saw.
>My son and I were concerned that he would remove the gland without some
>indication it was diseased
 
    The statistics are fairly conclusive on adrenal disease - for some
reason we don't know, left adrenals are affected 85% of the time, rights
15%.  In about 15% of cases, both adrenals are affected.  But if a vet goes
in on an animal with classic signs of adrenal disease, he shouldn't come
out empty-handed.  If you can't tell, then take the left one.
 
Best to Nikki,
 
Bruce Williams, DVM, DACVP
Dept. of Vet Path, AFIP
[log in to unmask]  OR
Chief Pathologist, AccuPath
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[Posted in FML issue 1286]