US Surgeons Perform World's First Bladder Transplant

A surgical team prepares a man for surgery to receive a donated kidney as part of a five-way organ transplant swap in New York, August 1, 2012. REUTERS/Keith Bedford
A surgical team prepares a man for surgery to receive a donated kidney as part of a five-way organ transplant swap in New York, August 1, 2012. REUTERS/Keith Bedford
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US Surgeons Perform World's First Bladder Transplant

A surgical team prepares a man for surgery to receive a donated kidney as part of a five-way organ transplant swap in New York, August 1, 2012. REUTERS/Keith Bedford
A surgical team prepares a man for surgery to receive a donated kidney as part of a five-way organ transplant swap in New York, August 1, 2012. REUTERS/Keith Bedford

Surgeons at a hospital in Los Angeles, California have successfully performed the world's first human bladder transplant, hospital officials said.

The surgery, performed May 4 at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, is a promising development for other patients suffering from serious bladder disorders.

The recipient of the innovative procedure was Oscar Larrainzar, 41, a father of four who had a large portion of his bladder removed due to cancer several years ago, the University of California, Los Angeles, said in a statement Sunday.

Larrainzar later had both of his kidneys removed due to cancer and end-stage kidney disease and was on dialysis for seven years.

He received both a bladder and a kidney from an organ donor and had them successfully transplanted in an eight-hour operation, AFP reported.

"The surgeons first transplanted the kidney, followed by the bladder; they then connected the kidney to the new bladder using the technique they had pioneered," the UCLA statement said.

Dr. Nima Nassiri, one of the surgeons involved in the historic transplant, said the procedure yielded positive results almost instantaneously.

"The kidney immediately made a large volume of urine, and the patient's kidney function improved immediately," Nassiri said.

"There was no need for any dialysis after surgery, and the urine drained properly into the new bladder."

Nassiri and fellow surgeon Inderbir Gill said full bladder transplants had not been performed previously due to the complex vascular structure of the pelvis, making it a technically difficult procedure.

"This first attempt at bladder transplantation has been over four years in the making," Nassiri said.

Previously, patients in need of bladder reconstruction could have one artificially created using a part of the intestines or have a stoma bag inserted to collect urine.

Those techniques had several short-term and long-term risks that doctors hope will be circumvented with the full bladder transplant, Nassiri said.



Severe Storms in New York City Area Kill Two in New Jersey Floods

 A woman walks along the Hudson River, with the Jersey City skyline in the background, in New York City, US, July 14, 2025. (Reuters)
A woman walks along the Hudson River, with the Jersey City skyline in the background, in New York City, US, July 14, 2025. (Reuters)
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Severe Storms in New York City Area Kill Two in New Jersey Floods

 A woman walks along the Hudson River, with the Jersey City skyline in the background, in New York City, US, July 14, 2025. (Reuters)
A woman walks along the Hudson River, with the Jersey City skyline in the background, in New York City, US, July 14, 2025. (Reuters)

Two people were killed in New Jersey during flash flooding as severe storms lashed the New York City area on Monday night into Tuesday, submerging cars and flooding subway stations.

The intense rainfall caused widespread travel disruption across the region's airports, highways and railways.

More than 2 inches (5 cm) of rain were recorded in a single hour in Manhattan's Central Park, the second most for a 60-minute period in history, according to Mayor Eric Adams.

Videos showed flooding in several subway stations on Monday evening, including a geyser of water spewing into a station on Manhattan's West Side.

Officials said the subway system was simply overwhelmed by the amount of rainfall in such a short amount of time. The antiquated sewer system can handle around 1.75 inches (4.44 cm) of rainfall per hour, Rohit Aggarwala, the city's environmental protection commissioner, told reporters on Tuesday, compared with a rate of more than 4 inches an hour at the storm's peak.

"I probably don't recall seeing that level of rain before," Adams said.

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy declared a state of emergency and said two people died in Plainfield when their vehicle was swept away by floodwaters.

The victims were found in a submerged car, Murphy told reporters.

Murphy said that some places got 6 inches (15.25 cm) of rain in less than 2.5 hours and that it appeared some locations experienced flooding for the first time. The governor blamed climate change for the increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events.

"That's the new reality," he said.

In Westchester County, north of the city, authorities conducted multiple water rescues as cars were submerged and highways shut down due to flooding. In nearby Rockland County, the suburb of Nanuet recorded more than 5 inches (12.7 cm) of rain, according to the National Weather Service.