CHICAGO (NewsNation) — Surgeons at Duke University Hospital have performed a first-of-its-kind pediatric heart procedure — a breakthrough that could forever change how surgeons handle heart problems in babies.
During her pregnancy, Kaitlyn Sinnamon of Asheboro, North Carolina, learned that the baby would need help to survive outside her womb.
“I was about 20 weeks pregnant with him when we found out his heart defects, so we knew he would need heart surgery,” Sinnamon recalled.
However, she didn’t know that her son, who she and her husband Brandon named Easton, would become the first person in the world to receive a thymus heart transplant.
Easton received his unique transplant last summer when he was six months old. He spent seven months in the hospital post-surgery. He’s now home, thriving, and recently celebrated his first birthday.
The thymus plays a critical role in building the immune system.
“The thymus is really important for, we call it the schoolhouse for your T cells,” explained Easton’s surgeon Dr. Joseph Turek.
All of the disease-fighting cells from different parts of the body localize in the thymus, and the gland helps cells grow so your body can fight infections, according to Turek.
“We thought if we did a thymus and heart transplant on Easton, there’s a potential that taking that from the same donor will allow that transplanted heart to be recognized as self,” Turek said.
Turek said Easton was born with a single ventricle heart disease and a valve leak that was problematic as well. The medical team first tried to fix the problems with Easton’s heart but said it became clear he would need a heart transplant and thymus procedure, too, because he couldn’t produce T cells to fight off infections.
So, doctors decided to proceed with a thymus heart transplant from the same donor.
“We had the expertise to do both. We were able to get approval through the FDA to do such,” Turek explained.
Doctors said Easton is still taking medication to keep his body from rejecting his new heart, but as his tolerance grows, they’ll be able to withdraw all his immunosuppressant meds. After that, his body will still recognize his heart.
Turek said the hope is that Easton’s heart transplant can last for the next half-century – something he thinks there is a very good chance of.