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Michael's Cause of Death
On June 29, 2000, The Gorilla Foundation received the pathologist's report from Dr. J. Werner of the University of California at Davis Veterinary Hospital, confirming that the cause of Michael's unexpected death on April 19, 2000 was heart failure due to fibrosing cardiomyopathy. Michael was the male gorilla who was raised with Koko and communicated using over 500 modified American Sign Language gestures.
Fibrosing cardiomyopathy is one of two major cardiovascular diseases found in gorillas. (This disease is also found in humans.) The other disease is aortic dissection. These diseases occur mostly in males and are seen more frequently in older gorillas. Cardiovascular disease accounts for 41% of deaths in adult gorillas, and 70% of deaths in males over 30 years old.
As was the case with Michael, there is usually no warning of the problem, and it remains undetected until it manifests itself in sudden death without any outward signs of disease. Much study still needs to be done to determine what causes this condition in gorillas, as well as what can be done to prevent it.
Many measurements we use in humans to monitor heart conditions, such as monitoring blood pressure, are not easily used on gorillas. There are two problems with this method of monitoring. Researchers do not know what a "normal" range would be for gorillas. The only measurements taken thus far have been on anesthetized gorillas, and these levels are higher than what is normal for a human. The second problem is gorillas can have fibrosing cardiomyopathy, yet not exhibit hypertension (high blood pressure), so regular monitoring will not necessarily indicate the disease. Michael was one of these individuals who exhibited no signs of hypertension.
Other methods of monitoring are currently being studied to try to detect fibrosing cardiomyopathy while there is still time to treat the afflicted gorilla. We can only hope the information doctors have collected from Michael's death will lead to ways of diagnosing and treating other gorillas who may have the same disease, but do not show any evidence of it.
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