A successful transplant of embryonic adrenal tissue in a patient with Addison's disease.

Well documented reports of the successful transplantation of human adrenal cortical tissue cannot be found in the literature. In 1951 we achieved the successful transplantation of human embryonic adrenal gland (cortical tissue) in a patient with symptomatic adrenal insufficiency (Addison's disease), apparently the first instance of histologically documented successful homografting of human adrenal cortex. Because of its historical pertinence, the authors, many years later, herein report on this case, which appeared in the senior author's medical thesis. The report must be viewed in the context of the existing clinical knowledge and technology available 40 years ago.