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WILLIAM A. KISKEN, MD

AMA Arch Surg. 1966;92(3):386-387.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

THE RELATION of the thymus to immunologic competence has received much attention recently. It has been shown to play an integral part in the development of the immunological system of the mouse, rat, hamster, and chicken.^1,2,3 The role of the thymus in the adult animal has not been clearly defined and although thymectomy in some adults leads to a decrease in circulating lymphocytes, this is not followed by any significant impairment of immune function.¹

Several investigators have postulated that the activity of an immunosuppressive drug might be potentiated by thymectomy. Starzl⁴ treated thymectomized, splenectomized, kidney allograft patients with azathioprine, but reported no obvious increase in survival of the grafts. This was confirmed by animal studies. Recently, however, he has urged reevaluating the value of thymectomy in preventing late rejection of kidney allografts.⁵ Calne⁶ reported no prolongation of kidney allografts in the adult thymectomized, azathioprine-treated dog. . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

Author Affiliations
MADISON, WIS

From the Department of Surgery, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine, Madison.

Footnotes
Submitted for publication Dec 13, 1965.

Reprint requests to 1300 University Ave, Madison, Wis 53706.

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