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Cardiac surgery on infants leads to aged immune systems: Swedish study

Xinhua, July 7, 2016 Adjust font size:

A Swedish study shows that many infants who undergo cardiac surgery develop an aged immune system, according to a press release from Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg on Thursday.

During the surgery, the infants have their thymus gland removed, a gland which performs important functions during the development of the immune system. As a result, when they grow up, their immune systems at 18 years of age are comparable to one normally seen in 65 to 70 year olds, the new study shows.

Approximately one percent of all children are born with heart defects and, since the 1980s, the number of children undergoing corrective heart surgery during the newborn period has increased.

Currently, approximately 250 to 300 children per year have their thymus glands removed in connection with cardiac surgery in Sweden.

The study has followed up children who have undergone cardiac surgery whose thymuses were removed. The children were examined before the operation, 18 months after the operation and at 18 years of age, to examine the immunological and clinical effects of having had their thymus removed.

The results show that at 18 years of age, children had a clear immunological deviation, with an absence of newly generated T-cells and low numbers of T-cells.

"It is difficult to draw any definite conclusions as to the clinical implications of having the thymus removed, as the study contained a relatively small number of people. It is, however, clear that further studies are needed to eventually be able to recommend changed surgical methods where the thymus is not removed during cardiac surgery," says Olov Ekwall, professor and consulting physician at Sahlgrenska Academy.

The study, "Early thymectomy leads to premature immunological ageing; an 18-year follow-up" was published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology on Thursday. Endit