Partial Bladder Transplantation with En Bloc Kidney Transplant—The First Case Report of a ‘Bladder Patch Technique’ in a Human

Abstract

Transplantation of the urinary bladder has not been reported in humans. We transplanted a portion of the donor bladder with an en bloc kidney graft in a 12-month-old girl. The child had a congenital hypoplastic single kidney with an ectopic ureteral opening into the vagina. Her native bladder was extremely small. Bilateral kidneys were transplanted en bloc with their ureters connected to a patch of the donor bladder, which encompassed the bilateral ureterovesical junctions (UVJs) (bladder patch technique). Approximately one-third of the donor bladder wall was used. The bladder patch reperfused well via blood supply from the ureters. Posttransplant cystoscopy with retrograde cystogram revealed a viable transplanted bladder with normal emptying of transplanted ureters. No reflux across the donor UVJs was seen in a voiding cystourethrogram. The child is doing well with normal renal function at 18-month follow-up.