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.



Eel-eating Japan Opposes EU Call for More Protection

People on bicycles cross a street under the hot sun in Tokyo on June 20, 2025. (Photo by Kazuhiro NOGI / AFP)
People on bicycles cross a street under the hot sun in Tokyo on June 20, 2025. (Photo by Kazuhiro NOGI / AFP)
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Eel-eating Japan Opposes EU Call for More Protection

People on bicycles cross a street under the hot sun in Tokyo on June 20, 2025. (Photo by Kazuhiro NOGI / AFP)
People on bicycles cross a street under the hot sun in Tokyo on June 20, 2025. (Photo by Kazuhiro NOGI / AFP)

Japan's agriculture minister said Friday the country would oppose any call by the European Union to add eels to an endangered species list that would limit trade in them.

Eel is eaten worldwide but is particularly popular in Japan, where it is called "unagi" and traditionally served grilled after being covered in a sticky-sweet sauce.

Minister Shinjiro Koizumi told reporters that the country carefully manages stock levels of the Japanese eel in cooperation with neighboring China, Taiwan and South Korea.

"There is a sufficient population, and it faces no extinction risk due to international trade," AFP quoted him as saying.

Japanese media have reported that the EU could soon propose that all eel species be added to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) which limits trade of protected animals.

There are 19 species and subspecies of eel, many of them now threatened due to a range of factors including pollution and overfishing.

In 2014, the Japanese eel was listed as endangered, but not critically endangered, by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, which cited factors including habitat loss, overfishing, pollution and migration barriers.

Protecting the animal is complicated by their complex life cycle, which unfolds over a vast area, and the many unknowns about how they reproduce.