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.



Heavy Rains Flood Congo’s Capital


People walk through the flooded streets of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo Sunday, April 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Samy Ntumba Shambuyi)
People walk through the flooded streets of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo Sunday, April 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Samy Ntumba Shambuyi)
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Heavy Rains Flood Congo’s Capital


People walk through the flooded streets of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo Sunday, April 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Samy Ntumba Shambuyi)
People walk through the flooded streets of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo Sunday, April 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Samy Ntumba Shambuyi)

Major flooding hit several neighborhoods in Congo's capital Kinshasa, killing at least 19 people and causing severe damage, authorities said Saturday.

Heavy rains Friday through Saturday triggered floods and landslides in Kinshasa's western neighborhood of Ngaliema, killing at least 17 people, the local mayor, Fulgence Bolokome, told the radio station Top Congo. Two avenues in the city were also cut off, he added.

Two other people died when the deluge toppled a wall in the southern neighborhood of Lemba, Mayor Jean-Serge Poba said. A police camp and a bridge were damaged, The AP news reported.

“It was around 3 a.m. when we heard a loud noise. When we went outside, the neighbors’ wall had collapsed. The man and his wife both died, leaving behind five children who made it out unharmed,” resident Clovis Kalenga told The Associated Press.

In April, floods in Kinshasa killed at least 22 people and cut off access to over half the city and the country’s main airport.