Transmissible Pituitary Chromophobe Adenoma in the Parakeet

Abstract

One of the most common tumors in the parakeet, Melopsitticus undulatus, is the chromophobe adenoma of the pituitary (4). Two of these tumors have been serially transplanted by Schlumberger and co-workers, one to 29th passage and the other to the 6th passage (5). The most frequent sign of a pituitary tumor in the parakeet is impaired vision. Thirty-eight percent of 50 birds gathered by Schlumberger became totally blind or showed evidence of serious visual disturbance. A more striking sign in the spontaneous cases is unior bilateral ocular proptosis. Additional changes observed are somnolence, convulsions, polydipsia, polyuria and obesity. Secretion of growth hormone by the pituitary tumor may be the cause of increased body weight by recipient parakeets (2). A pituitary chromophobe adenoma occurring spontaneously in a parakeet was transplanted successfully in September 1960 and forms the basis of this report.