Transplant provides treatment for complete DiGeorge syndrome

Infants born with complete DiGeorge syndrome have no thymus gland, an important part of the immune system. Without a thymus, the child will become overwhelmed by infection and die. Attempts to transplant a thymus into infants with complete DiGeorge syndrome have not always been successful due to rejection of the transplant. Researchers at Duke University Medical Center have developed a combination immune suppression and thymus transplantation technique. Infants were given a special immunosuppressive drug called Thymoglobulin three days prior to surgery, resulting in successful transplants. Five of six infants who underwent the procedure survived and now live at home; the sixth was ill prior to surgery and did not survive. The research will be published in the October 15, 2004, issue of Blood, and is also available online.