Surgical Treatment Option

[Allison]

Some of you may remember me as a Gizmo's owner. You might also recall I wrote an article about Cushings for a local animal welfare blog. A visitor to our blog shared the below info with me. In case it's news to ones here, I'm passing it on.

Northwest Public Radio and TV did a story on a surgical treatment option for Cushing’s in cats and dogs. The vets at Washington State University say if the tumor is found early enough the surgery has a greater chance of curing the disease.
http://nwpr.org/post/washington-state-veterinary-surgeon-pursues-new-treatment-deadly-canine-syndrome

[Squirt's Mom]

Hi Allison,

Not to burst your bubble but Dr. David Bruyette performed one of, or maybe the, first hypophysectomies on one of our own babies several years ago. The dog's name was Lucy and she did well for a while after the surgery. She and her mom are no longer on the forum at her mom's request, but we will never forget Lucy Goo and her role in this pioneering surgery. Dr. Tina Owen has been working on this and I believe collaborates with Dr. Bruyette.

Here is some more info on this surgery for you and your followers -

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5108476/

http://www.acvim.org/Portals/0/PDF/ACE/Hypophysectomy%20Course%20Schedule.pdf

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24467302

And last - our Lucy Goo... http://www.dogaware.com/articles/newscushingssurgery.html

[Harley PoMMom]

Thanks, Allison, for posting that article, and as Leslie mentioned I too believe that sweet Lucy was the first dog to have this type of surgical procedure done.

It is such a shame that this surgery is so very expensive...$10-15,000...WOW :(

[lulusmom]

Allison, thank you so much for posting this information. This is actually "new" news as Dr. Owens is the first veterinarian that I know of who actually offers to perform transphenoidal hypophysectomies in the U.S. The surgical procedure Leslie and Lori are referring to weren't actually performed by veterinary surgeons but rather human neurosurgeons. Dr. Bruyette, then Medical Director at VCA West Los Angeles Veterinary Hospital, approached Neurosurgeon Adam N. Mamelak, M.D. at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center about teaching him and other veterinary endocrine specialist to do this surgery. It ultimately ended up as a collaborative effort and was done as a clinical trial to benefit both veterinary and human medicine. As I recall, dogs with very large macroadenoma were accepted, and may even have been preferred. I believe these same dogs, including our own Lucy Goo, would have been deemed unsuitable surgical candidates by Utrecht University. I have a horrible memory but I seem to recall that at least one of our members was declined by Utrecht as her dog's pituitary tumor was too large.

I also remember listening to an older audio of one of Dr. Bruyette's lectures where he discusses this surgery and his answer as to why it's not performed in the U.S. was; "veterinary surgeons in the U.S. simply don't seem to have any interest in learning". I've often wondered if that was Dr. Bruyette's motivation in soliciting the help of human neurosurgeons. I also wonder if Dr. Owens learned from the Dr. Meij at Utrecht University or Dr. Mamelak at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. The article doesn't say.

Glynda

[labblab]

Actually, the circle does include Dr. Owen from beginning to end. ;)

It appears as though she was the veterinary surgeon who assisted with performimg Lucy's surgery at UCLA -- as Glynda says, a human neurosurgeon was solicited by Dr. Bruyette and Dr. Owen, with the goal of teaching Dr. Owen how to perform the procedure herself.


Human research into a new type of surgical imaging device is being done at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Recently, veterinary endocrinologist Dr. David Bruyette (DVM, DACVIM) and veterinary surgeon Dr. Tina Owen (DVM, DACVS) from VCA West Los Angeles Animal Hospital contacted the neurosurgeon who had been studying the use of a scope (called a VITOM) and asked if he would investigate whether the device could be used to perform pituitary surgery in dogs. After looking into it, the neurosurgeon recognized that this device would be ideal for dogs, and agreed to show Dr. Owen how to perform neurosurgery to remove pituitary tumors.

http://www.dogaware.com/articles/newscushingssurgery.html

Glynda is absolutely correct that initially the surgery was only performed on dogs suffering from enlarged macrotumors. It's very interesting to me that Dr. Owen is now willing to perform the surgery on any dog suffering from PDH.

Marianne

[Allison]

Thanks for the response! The blog I write for is in the Midwest and so I was very surprised to have a reader from Washington post to it. I'll pass the links on to the reader.