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Sep 19, 2007 6:16 pm US/Central
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Brookfield Gorilla Undergoes Historic Procedure
Brookfield Zoo's Beta Is First Ever To Have Special Procedure To Shrink Uterine Tumor
by Joanie Lum
BROOKFIELD, Ill. (CBS) ―
A gorilla at the Brookfield Zoo is recovering Wednesday from a historic medical treatment that cured her reproductive disease, after suffering the same symptoms thousands of women are familiar with.
Beta, a 46-year old lowland gorilla, underwent treatment for fibroid tumors. As CBS 2's Joanie Lum reports, the most compassionate care, the finest physicians and most advanced equipment in the business were all dedicated to the beautiful beast.
"She had the same symptoms a 47-year-old menopausal woman with fibroids might have – bleeding and anemia," said Dr. Steven Smith, an interventional radiologist at Adventist La Grange Memorial Hospital.
A medical team from Adventist La Grange Memorial Hospital performed the procedure in Brookfield Zoo's surgical room. They inserted a catheter into Beta's arm and fed it to the uterine wall where the fibroids are.
"And inject tiny particles, cutting off the blood supply, causing them to shrink up," Smith explained.
The procedure allowed surgeons to shrink the fibroid without removing the uterus and ovaries as in a hysterectomy.
"We have an aging population of gorillas, and problems with reproductive disease with aging," said Brookfield Zoo veterinarian Dr. Natalie Mylniczenko. "It's hoped this will save us from doing hysterectomies."
Smith's been performing the procedure on humans for 10 years, but Beta was his first primate patient.
"Most of our patients don't have to be shot with a dart before the procedure," Smith said.
"Once the gorilla wakes up, she's back to being a gorilla," Mylniczenko said.
Since gorillas are social animals, doctors believe Beta is eager to see her gorilla troupe again. If she feels up to it, she could be back on exhibit in as little as three days.
Beta has been the subject of medical innovation twice before. In 1981, she was the first gorilla to give birth via artificial insemination at the Memphis Zoo. In 1986, she was the first gorilla to undergo bilateral hip replacement surgery, and still the only gorilla ever to have had that procedure.
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