(Pixabay)
(THE HORN NEWS) – Duke University doctors say a baby is thriving after a first-of-its-kind heart transplant – one that came with a bonus technique to try to help prevent rejection of the new organ.
The thymus plays a critical role in building the immune system. Doctors have wondered if implanting some thymus tissue that matched a donated organ might help it survive without the recipient needing toxic anti-rejection medicines.
Easton Sinnamon of Asheboro, North Carolina, received his unique transplant last summer when he was 6 months old. But Duke waited to announce it until Monday after doctors learned the specially processed thymus implants appear to be functioning like they’d hoped – producing immune cells that don’t treat the tot’s new heart like foreign tissue.
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