[Immunologic and endocrinologic considerations apropos of a case of acardia]

The deficient development of the peripheral immunopoietic system in acardiac acephalous monsters cannot be explained only by the absence of the thymus. Similarly the adrenal gland hypoplasia does not depend upon the absence of the pituitary gland due to the concurrent condition of acephaly. The author suggests that the failed development of the above mentioned structures depends respectively upon disorders in the peripheral "microenvironment" which is needed by immature lymphoid cells to establish themselves in the peripheral lymphoid structures and upon the decreased sensibility of the adrenal glands to the corticotrophic stimulus. A hypothesis about the frequency of the association between acephaly and acardy is proposed. Finally the author proposes a study program in such cases.