Novel Approach to Vascular Thymic Tissue Transplantation in Humans: A Case Report.

BACKGROUND

Vascular thymus transplantation has been explored in animal models but remains untested in humans. Current approaches to congenital athymia involve avascular transplantation of allogeneic thymic tissue, which may delay immune recovery. Building on animal studies, we propose revascularization of thymic tissue in a human model. This case report details about the revascularization of neonatal thymic tissue in an elderly woman with terminal cancer, evaluating revascularization efficacy, rejection risks, and procedural safety over a 3-week period.

CASE REPORT: A thymic tissue graft obtained from a neonate during corrective heart surgery was implanted into the left radial forearm of an 85-year-old woman. The graft was evaluated for 3 weeks, with one thymic vein anastomosed to the cephalic vein and one thymic artery to the radial artery. No immunosuppression or HLA matching was employed. Weekly Doppler ultrasound and postexplantation histopathology monitored blood flow and graft status. Hematologic, biochemical, radiological evaluations, and daily clinical follow-up were conducted.

CONCLUSION

This preliminary research demonstrates the feasibility of revascularizing a neonatal thymus in an adult using microsurgical techniques.