Surgery for Pituitary Dependent Hyperadrenocorticism (PDH)

[amelia]

Hi Everyone:

I would like to share this information regarding surgical removal of a pituitary tumor. My 12 yr Golden Retriever has Cushings (PDH). He has a wonderful veterinary neurologist, Dr. Jay McDonnell. His practice is in the Maryland area & he also consults at the Univ Of Pennsylvania.

He is in the process of bringing this exciting surgery to the Univ of Penn & hopes to have it available by the end of the year. He trained in the Netherlands with a physician that has been doing pituitary surgery for 15 years with great success.
Here is the link to his website for more info. http://www.drjaymcdonnell.com/site/view/173757_AttheUniversityofUtrecht.pml

Unfortunately, my Boomer cannot benefit from this since he has a number of other issues but maybe he can help some of your babies.

He would prefer to not be bombarded with questions but you can direct them to me through this post & I will compile a list & send them to him.

[MyRudy]

WOW! That certainly is exciting news.

I just love the dogs' expressions in your avatar.

[StarDeb55]

Since both of you are relatively new members, you may be interested to know that one of our members here, & at the old site has been through this surgery with her pup, Lucy. This was done in S. California, & Dr. David Bruyette is one of Lucy's attending vets. I believe it's been a little over a year since Lucy had her pit tumor removed & she is doing well. Here is a link to her thread, if you would like to read further. Unfortunately, when the owner of the old site took it down with no notification, we lost access to all of the posts about the time Lucy had her surgery.

http://www.k9cushings.com/forum/showthread.php?t=534

Debbie

[lucygoo]

Yes, Lucy had this surgery done a year ago in May in Los Angeles, and is doing very well.

I have to stress, however, that it is not a "quick fix." You sort of have to resign yourself that you may lose your dog during the surgery or shortly thereafter. It all depends on the dog, really.

I'm very glad they're finally offering it elsewhere in the country. It is, indeed, a life saving procedure and I'm very, very lucky to have had it done by experienced human neurosurgeons in the best vet hospital. I believe my original thread is still available to be viewed in the archives section, and if anyone has any questions, feel free to ask me:)

Gina

[StarDeb55]

Thanks for posting, Gina. I was hoping you might see this one.

Debbie

[Rebelsmom]

Hi Everyone:

I would like to share this information regarding surgical removal of a pituitary tumor. My 12 yr Golden Retriever has Cushings (PDH). He has a wonderful veterinary neurologist, Dr. Jay McDonnell. His practice is in the Maryland area & he also consults at the Univ Of Pennsylvania.

He is in the process of bringing this exciting surgery to the Univ of Penn & hopes to have it available by the end of the year. He trained in the Netherlands with a physician that has been doing pituitary surgery for 15 years with great success.
Here is the link to his website for more info. http://www.drjaymcdonnell.com/site/view/173757_AttheUniversityofUtrecht.pml

Unfortunately, my Boomer cannot benefit from this since he has a number of other issues but maybe he can help some of your babies.

He would prefer to not be bombarded with questions but you can direct them to me through this post & I will compile a list & send them to him.

Has he performed any of the removals here yet? Do you know the success rate and cost associated with the removal?

Melissa

[lulusmom]

As I recall, we had another member that shared Dr. McConnell's web page about his training in Utrecht and I have been pretty excited about it. I recall listening to Dr. Edward Feldman's 2007 lecture on cushing's and it's treatments and he said if anybody wants to know why transsphenoidal hypophysectomies are not done in the U.S., it's simply because nobody seems to want to learn. Bless Dr. McConnell for being the awesome trail blazer who will give dogs and their owners an alternative to long term treatment.

I'll have to let Gina confirm but I believe the Goo girl had a huge macroadenoma and had she been in Utrecht, they would not have considered her as a viable candidate for surgery. I also believe that Goo was part of a clinical trial and it was human surgeons, not veterinary surgeons, that performed her surgery so beautifully.

[lucygoo]

Yes, Glynda, you are correct. Lucy's tumor was ridiculously large, and her surgery was performed by human neurosurgeons, who were teaching the veterinary surgeons how to perform it so they can offer it as a regular procedure here. (In turn, the human surgeons took the tissue to study it, as it is the same and behaves the same in humans)

I was so lucky because when they showed the MRI to the human surgeons, they said, "No problem, piece of cake, that's what we do." However I understand veterinary surgeons would be less likely to attempt it on a large macro like she had. (Although I'm pretty sure they will now, at least here in LA)

From what I understand so far, though, at least from the surgeries they've done here, the outcome really depends on the dog, not the size of the tumor. They've had successes with large tumors and failures with tiny ones. They've also done a cat succesfully.

[amelia]

Hi Gina
Thanks for the info. How is Lucy doing now? How old was she when she had the surgery? It is interesting that the surgery was performed by MDs & not VMDs.

I don't think Dr. McDonnell has performed this surgery here yet but hopes that Univ Of Penn will allow it by the end of the year.

Gina, how was the surgery performed on your dog? Dr. McDonnell does not cut into the brain (I don't think). He goes in through the nose & removes the tumor using imaging equipment. It is called a transsphenoidal hypophysectomy.

My dog is 12 & also has lymphoma (although in remission now) & possibly a meningioma (we think due to has symptoms). I have not had a MRI so we don't know for sure. But I think because of all the things going on with him, I decided not to put him through surgery or the MRI. I am just trying to keep him comfortable & limit his pain.

[lucygoo]

Hi Amelia...

I certainly understand you not wanting to put your dog through this, as it is major, major surgery.

Lucy had the surgery done a year ago in May, when she was 11. The surgery was performed by an incision into the roof of her mouth, and removing the tumor. She's doing fine now, although it was a long recovery. After the surgery she was blind for about 10 days, and could barely walk (she was high-stepping it, looked like a stroke patient) It took about a month for her to recover, and about 2 months to get back to normal (whatever that is for a dog of her age)

Lucy's tumor was so large, she was already showing severe neurological symptoms; stopped eating, looked dazed half the time, and started this awful back spasm thing, where she hunched her back up like a cat. It looked very painful. My decision to go ahead with the surgery was obvious. At that point I would rather have lost her during the surgery than to let her go another minute like that.

Gina

[amelia]

Hi Gina
I'm glad the surgery was a success & Lucy is doing good! I don't know what to do about Boomer. I'm afraid to put him through the MRI which I fear would not be good news & he will require surgery, which I don't think we want to do.

His symptoms are not severe or really that bad. Other than he sleeps alot (I assume most 12 yr olds do), he rear legs give him problems. He is able to walk but sometimes his right paw knuckles under & he circles & then has a hard time keeping his balance. He doesn't appear to be in pain. We don't know if it is a macroadenoma or another type of brain tumor since he symptoms seem to be neurologic. We are still weighing the options.
Thanks for the update.

[addy]

I am reading this thread and I am in awe of the surgery that Lucy Goo had.

Gina, what a brave mom you are:)

and I mean that in only the very best of ways!!!

Addy