Maggie The Female Orangutan

Maggie the female orangutan at the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago was overweight, slept alot, snored, suffered constipation, passed excess gas. All attempts to lose weight failed.The male orangutans were not interesting to her sexually. Another orangutan was diagnosed with hypothyroidism at another zoo.Special thyroid testing by a University of Chicago endocrinologist confirmed hypothyroidism in Maggie. She has lost weight, and now is interested in the males, after therapy with thyroid hormone returned her to normal.

Reidel's Struma

The patient today has a rare thyroid disorder. It is called Reidel's Struma. She developed shortness of breath when she turned her head. The left lobe of her thyroid was woody hard, and it crossed the front of her airpipe. The use of steroids failed to improve the obstruction. She had a very difficult surgery to remove the thyroid tissue blocking her windpipe. This worked for a few years, but the symptom returned.I felt a hard mass again over her windpipe. Last weeks biopsy confirmed a recurrence of Reidel's disease. Today, she was told of the recurrence, and we tried to work out a new plan.She agreed to try Tamoxifen. There are published reports of it causing a regression in the fibrosis, and relief of obstruction. She realizes that if this does not work, she may need another surgery. This is an invasive non-cancerous fibrotic disease that invades the tissue outside the thyroid.There is no known cause, and steroids are usually effective. It can recur as in my patient. It is not Hashimoto's Thyroiditis. It can mimic a cancer. In my 30 years of thyroid private practice, this is the first case. However, at USC, I have seen 3-4 cases.