Penguins and boas and scans…oh my!By Mary Hardin | |
 Photo courtesy of David Jaynes/IUSM Medical Illustration Department The Indianapolis Zoo’s Denny Byers (left) and vet techs Julie Hutt (center) and Veronica Greco helped to calm the rockhopper penguin before she underwent an MRI scan this summer at the IU Hospital. |
Early this summer at the Indianapolis Zoo, the penguins were all aflutter—one of their own was in the hospital.
The penguins only knew that one of the older hens had been taken to Indiana University Hospital because she hadn’t been feeling well. Later that same day, they would find out the whole story. Penguin No. 138, a rockhopper first acquired by the Indianapoli s Zoo in 1990, had been suffering seizures since her arrival. But, of late, the seizures had become more frequent and severe. Through a process of diagnostic elimination, senior veterinarian Jeff Proudfoot had narrowed the diagnosis to either a brain tu mor or epilepsy. The zoo also had another ailing inhabitant. A 15-year-old male emerald tree boa had developed feeding problems in March. A brain tumor or “heat sensor malfunction” in the nose area of the snake was suspected as the reason the tree boa was unable to accura tely snag his prey. Boas first strike their prey before wrapping themselves around the rodent or other meal target. This boa had been missing his prey by several inches when striking. Proudfoot contacted IU School of Medicine radiologist Dr. Vincent Mathews, an associate professor and chief of neuroradiology, and physicist Mark Lowe, director of the Research MRI Facility, for assistance with this unique project. The team would perform magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) on the two sick animals. A June “clinic” appointment was set. The penguin and boa arrived at the hospital’s loading dock with a team of animal experts from the Indianapolis Zoo. First, the penguin was anesthetized and placed in the MRI. It took about 30 minutes to do the scan because the radiologist and physicist h ad no models to go by. This may be the first penguin (and first snake) MRI on record. Results for penguin No. 138 were positive; no abnormality was evident, so Proudfoot ruled out brain lesions or tumor as a cause and will treat the black-and-white seabir d with medication for epilepsy. The boa case was a different story. First, he was a bit more difficult to anesthetize and had to be intubated for the anesthesia. Second, Mathews said a baseline scan of a healthy emerald tree boa brain was needed to accurately assess the sick snake’s bra in. “The snake’s brain structure is so much different from mammals,” he explained. “It is more of a primitive brain.” That scan was scheduled for later in the summer. In the meantime, zookeepers were to continue to force feed the emerald tree snake to keep it healthy. Meanwhile, back at the zoo, the penguins were dipping and gliding in their chilled pool, happy to have their friend back. No. 138 was preening herself in the corner. In the background could be heard some low-key chirping: some of the hens thought No.138 h ad definitely overdressed for a trip to the hospital. This was not the first cooperative effort between IUSM and the Indianapolis Zoo—in the past a lion cub and a red kangaroo were brought to IU for MRIs. |
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Publication date: 15 September 2000
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