An infant believed to be the first to receive a combination heart transplant and allogeneic processed thymus tissue implant is gaining immune function 6 months after the procedures, potentially reducing the need for antirejection drugs.
The two procedures were performed at Duke University Hospital on Aug. 6, under an expanded access application cleared by the FDA. Researchers called the procedures a milestone in heart transplantation.
The infant, Easton Sinnamon, was aged 6 months when he received his heart transplant. Implantation of the cultured thymus tissue from his heart donor was