The role of the thymus gland The thymus gland—which produces immune T cells before birth and during childhood— is often regarded as nonfunctional in adults, and it’s sometimes removed during cardiac ...

The thymus (orange in this illustration) is an immune system organ that sits between the lungs, right in front of and above the heart. This gland might be more important for adult health than ...

"The thymus changes massively during pregnancy and how such rewiring of an entire tissue contributes to a healthy pregnancy has been one of the remaining mysteries of immunology," adds Dr. Penninger.

But the gland starts to shrink after puberty and increasingly becomes clogged with fat. Evidence from animal and some human studies shows that growth hormone stimulates regeneration of the thymus.

Health Consequences of Thymus Removal in Adults. New England Journal of Medicine, 2023; 389 (5): 406 DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa2302892 ...

So Easton became the first patient in the world to receive both a new heart and thymus tissue from a single donor. The heart transplant took place at Duke University Hospital last Aug. 6; two ...

Since Easton needed a new heart and, independently, a new thymus gland, the FDA granted approval for the procedures that went ahead in August 2021, when Easton was six months old.