 Corky
is a thirteen year old yellow lab who came in to us to be evaluated for
a tumor in the mouth, which the owners has noted growing over the past
month or so. They did not notice the tumor until, it started to
bleed on occasion and Corky's appetite had fallen off. Aside
from the lack of appetite, the owners were not aware of any other
problems.
On presentation, Corky appeared slightly
lethargic. He had a foul odor coming from the mouth and he was dripping
blood from his mouth in the exam room. Raising his lips we could
see a large, firm ulcerated mass as shown below:
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| Tumor pre
operative. Click on images to enlarge |
As you can see, the tumor involves a large area
on the upper jaw line and extends almost to the center of the hard
palate. Tumors of the mouth can be many different types,
such as squamous cell carcinoma, malignant melanoma, fibrosarcoma and
more. Judging from how this mass was growing so rapidly and was
eating away at the hard palate, we did not expect this to be a benign
tumor. Therefore, we performed pre-operative blood tests as well
as radiographs of the chest and abdomen to see if there was evidence of
spread of the tumor into the lungs or abdomen. Fortunately for Corky, we
did not find any spread of the tumor.
Since Corky was doing well with the exception
of the oral tumor, the owners decided to go ahead with surgery. We
informed them that this would not likely cure the problem, but would buy
Corky some time.
We anesthetized Corky and excised the tumor
from the hard palate. We had to remove the teeth in the area as the
tumor was invading the bone around them. We also had to remove
most of the nasal turbinates (thin boney structures in the nose) on that
side of the face because it appeared as if the tumor was eating into
that area.
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| Tumor
removed before closure. Click on images to enlarge |
You can see what a large defect removal of the
tumor left in the jaw and hard palate. We performed a gingival
flap, to stretch the inner surface of the cheek over the surgical defect
and sewed it into place.
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| Wound after
closure. Click on images to enlarge |
Corky recovered without incident with the exception of some bleeding
from the nose (which was expected). He was sent home on a
diet of soft gruel, antibiotics and pain medications.
The biopsy was completed about a week later and
the tumor was diagnosed as an Osteosarcoma, which is a malignant tumor
arising from the bone tissue. We discussed the option of pursuing
radiation and/or chemotherapy with Corky, but the owners felt that they
wanted him to just enjoy the rest of his life. Four weeks post
operative, Corky is doing very well, eating normal food again and
enjoying his days. We expect the tumor to recur, but until it
does, he has regained his quality of life.
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