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Zoo Gorilla's Heart Showing Improvement

Posted on: Friday, 12 August 2005, 12:00 CDT

Knoxville Zoo gorilla Kwashi, diagnosed with heart disease in November, has improved.

The 22-year-old Western lowland gorilla, on loan from Ohio's Toledo Zoo, has infiltrative cardiomyopathy. The progressive disease causes the heart to stiffen and not contract properly.

A July 19 echocardiogram found that the Kwashi's heart function had improved. Kwashi (pronounced Quashee) has been taking aspirin and a beta-blocker. Zookeepers will add a third medicine, an ace inhibitor.

"The disease is still there, but the medication has helped his heart to work better," said University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine cardiologist Dr. Becky Gompf.

The echocardiogram was performed with a mobile ultrasound machine donated by Knoxville business Contract Health Services and operated by its technicians. Darted with a tranquilizer, a sedated Kwashi was placed on an examining table. A gas anesthesia machine kept him sedated for the exam.

The test was done not just to check Kwashi's heart but to see if his weight gain was a sign of health problems. Gompf wanted Kwashi to add muscle mass after the November 2004 echocardiogram found his heart ailment. So he got additional food and added a potbelly to his physique.

Keepers feared that belly might mean fluid was in his abdomen, a sign that the heart disease was worsening. Last week's test found that Kwashi simply is plump and has added almost 50 pounds to his November weight of 245 pounds.

Heart disease is a problem in captive gorillas; its causes aren't known. Kwashi came to Knoxville in 2001; he is the zoo's second gorilla diagnosed with heart disease. The gorilla Sam died of heart failure in 2000 at age 30.

Amy McRary may be reached at 865-342-6437.

Source: News Sentinel

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