Randi, a middle-aged female chimpanzee at the Chattanooga Zoo, will be given an echocardiogram on Wednesday at the zoo by William Warren, M.D., cardiologist at The Chattanooga Heart Institute. Dr. Ed Ramsey of the UT School of Veterinary Medicine, and several students as well as a veterinary cardiology resident, will be on hand to watch the echocardiogram being given.
This is the second echo done on a chimp at the Chattanooga Zoo. The first was performed last year by William Warren, M.D. on the Zoo’s sole male chimp, Goliath.
“Heart disease is the number one cause of death of chimpanzees, orangutans, and gorillas living in captivity,” says Dr. Anthony Ashley, veterinarian at the Chattanooga Zoo. “We don’t anticipate finding any heart problems in Randi from this test but if she does have heart disease we will consider our treatment options including putting her on a medication much like a person would be given. If there isn’t any sign of heart disease, we’ll have a baseline echo showing her normal heart that we can then compare with future echos.” Since chimpanzees can be very high strung, and the echo will take 15 to 20 minutes, Randi will be slightly sedated for the test.
Dr. Warren says, "An echocardiogram is a sound wave test used to image heart muscle strength, heart muscle thickness, and heart valve function. Heart muscle weakness or heart muscle thickening (called cardiomyopathy) may be seen in chimpanzees just like in their human counterparts.”
Dardenelle Long, Chattanooga Zoo executive director, says, “We’re thrilled with the opportunity to once again partner with The Chattanooga Heart Institute for this groundbreaking primate initiative. It’s our hope that our work on Randi will help keep her healthy and strong for many years to come.”
In addition to providing Zoo officials information on Randi’s health, her echo and blood work will be sent to Zoo Atlanta as part of “The Great Ape Heart Project” a groundbreaking national project which researches heart disease in apes. The project is collecting echos and blood work from apes around the country with the ultimate goal of preventing heart disease in these animals.