As reported in the American media, a young patient, a boy named Easton, made history of medical achievements, becoming the first person in the world to undergo a heart and thymus transplant.

A pioneering procedure was undertaken to save the boy's life, but doctors are also hoping that this achievement will revolutionize the field of organ transplantation. Months have passed since the surgery and the patient is doing well so far. Doctors say that by donating cultured thymus tissue to Easton from the same donor who gave him the heart should help his body absorb new tissue.

Thymus tissue is working, which means that his body is building critical immune cells that can eventually reduce or even eliminate the need for lifelong medications to prevent transplant rejection. The thymus supports the development of T cells that fight foreign substances in the body.

One of Easton's doctors, Joseph Turek of Duke University Hospital, said: “We are very excited. This concept of tolerance has always been the Holy Grail in transplantation, and it is now at your fingertips. It could change the face of solid organ transplants in the future. ”

Easton's story

Easton was born with a weak heart and immune system problems. He spent the first seven months of his life in hospital - partly in CPR - and needed numerous heart operations. He also struggled with recurring infections with great difficulty. Doctors have applied to the medical regulatory body, the US Food and Drug Administration, to perform an experimental type of transplant that had not been performed before. The FDA approved procedures that took place in August 2021, when Easton was six months old. "The work we did in the lab was to use the thymus with a heart transplant to develop tolerance - essentially retraining the immune system and growing the same donor's thymus and heart at the same time," said Dr. Turek. The medical team plans to discontinue Easton from immunosuppressants at some point to see how he progresses.

Source: BBC