Purpose: To assess the feasibility of transplanting adult bladder tissue to its offspring as a source of neobladder tissue for bladder augmentation.
Methods: The dome of the bladder of an adult Lewis rat was excised and transplanted into the omentum of a 6-week-old offspring (living-related partial bladder transplant: n = 15). The bladder remnant of the donor rat was closed. Two weeks after transplantation, a laparotomy was performed to mobilize the bladder graft with its omental pedicle into the pelvis. Bladder augmentation (BA) was performed by anastomosing the graft to the recipient's bladder. Thirty days after BA, the entire neobladder was excised and histopathologically examined.
Results: At laparotomy, each bladder graft appeared macroscopically as a thin-walled cyst in the recipient's omentum. Each graft could be mobilized into the pelvis and anastomosed to the recipient's bladder. BA was successful in all 15 recipients, and histopathologic studies showed that the mucosa was normal throughout each neobladder. Postoperatively, donors and recipients were clinically well without any sign of urinary incontinence or obstruction.
Conclusions: This is the first report of adult tissue being transplanted successfully into a recipient without vascular reconstruction in a rat. Living-related partial bladder transplantation for the purpose of BA is feasible using our technique and could have application as an alternative technique for BA in a rat.