US surgeons perform first human bladder transplant

Surgeons in California have performed the first human bladder transplant, introducing a new, potentially life-changing procedure for people with debilitating bladder conditions.

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The operation was carried out in May by two surgeons from the University of California, Los Angeles and University of Southern California (USC) on a 41-year-old man who had lost much of his bladder capacity from treatments for a rare form of bladder cancer.

"I was a ticking time bomb," the patient, Mr Oscar Larrainzar, said on May 18 during a follow-up appointment with his doctors. "But now I have hope." The doctors plan to perform bladder transplants on four more patients as part of a clinical trial before pursuing a larger trial.