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| » Publication : J Herpe Med Surg : J Herpe Med Surg Spring'04 Vol. 14 No. 1 |
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J Herpe Med Surg
Thymic Hyperplasia in Subadult Galapagos Tortoises, Geochelone nigra * Gregory J. Fleming, BBA, DVM, DACZM; Darryl J. Heard, BVMS, PhD, DACZM; Elizabeth W. Uhl, DVM, PhD, DACVP; Calvin M. Johnson, DVM, PhD, DACVP
* Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine University of Florida, Box 100125, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA A group of five, related captive born juvenile Galapagos tortoises, Geochelone nigra, presented with cervical neck swellings (6 - 20 cm) of greater than one year of duration. Thyroid hormones, plasma triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4) were normal range or slightly elevated. Surgical biopsy and histologic and immunohistochemical evaluation of the masses revealed thymic hyperplasia. Thymic hyperplasia should be included as a differential diagnosis, in addition to goiter, for neck swelling in tortoises. [Abstract] |