Health

Surgeons Perform First Human Bladder Transplant

Published

9 months ago

May 18, 2025

Surgeons Perform First Human Bladder Transplant

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

The operation was performed earlier this month by a pair of surgeons from the University of California, Los Angeles, and the University of Southern California 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, Oscar Larrainzar, said on Thursday during a follow-up appointment with his doctors. “But now I have hope.”

The doctors plan to perform bladder transplants in four more patients as part of a clinical trial to get a sense of outcomes like bladder capacity and graft complications before pursuing a larger trial to expand its use.

Dr. Inderbir Gill, who performed the surgery along with Dr. Nima Nassiri, called it “the realization of a dream” for treating thousands of patients with crippling pelvic pain, inflammation and recurrent infections.

“There is no question: A potential door has been opened for these people that did not exist earlier,” said Dr. Gill, the chairman of the urology department at U.S.C.

Pushing the Envelope

Until now, most patients who undergo a bladder removal have a portion of their intestine repurposed to help them pass urine. Some receive an ileal conduit, which empties urine into a bag outside the abdomen, while others are given a so-called neobladder, or a pouch tucked inside the body that attaches to the urethra and allows patients to urinate more traditionally.

But bowel tissue, riddled with bacteria, is “inherently contaminated,” Dr. Gill said, and introducing it to the “inherently sterile” urinary tract leads to complications in up to 80 percent of patients, ranging from electrolyte imbalances to a slow reduction in kidney function. The loss of the intestinal segment can also cause new digestive issues.

Dr. Despoina Daskalaki, a transplant surgeon at Tufts Medical Center who was not involved in the new procedure, said advances in transplant medicine (from critical life-sustaining organs, like hearts and livers, to other body parts, like faces, hands, uteri and penises) had led doctors to start “pushing the envelope.”

“They’re asking: ‘Why do we have to put up with all the complications? Why don’t we try and give this person a new bladder?’” Dr. Daskalaki said.

In late 2020, Dr. Nassiri was in his fourth year of residency at the University of Southern California when he and Dr. Gill sat down in the hospital cafeteria to begin brainstorming approaches. After Dr. Nassiri began a fellowship on kidney transplantation at U.C.L.A., the two surgeons continued working together across institutions to test both robotic and manual techniques, practicing first on pigs, then human cadavers, and finally, human research donors who no longer had brain activity but maintained a heartbeat.

One of the challenges of transplanting a bladder was the complex vascular infrastructure. The surgeons needed to operate deep inside the pelvis of the donor to capture and preserve a rich supply of blood vessels so the organ could thrive inside the recipient.

“When we’re removing a bladder because of cancer, we basically just cut them. We do it in less than an hour on a near-daily basis,” Dr. Gill said. “For a bladder donation, that is a significantly higher order of technical intensity.”

The surgeons also chose to conjoin the right and left arteries — as well as the right and left veins — while the organ was on ice, so that only two connections were needed in the recipient, rather than four.

When their strategy was perfected in 2023, the two drew up plans for a clinical trial, which eventually would bring the world’s first recipient: Oscar.

An Ideal First Candidate

When Mr. Larrainzar walked into Dr. Nassiri’s clinic in April 2024, Dr. Nassiri recognized him. Almost four years earlier, Mr. Larrainzar, a husband and father of four, had been navigating end-stage kidney disease and renal cancer, and Dr. Nassiri helped remove both of his kidneys.

But Mr. Larrainzar had also survived urachal adenocarcinoma, a rare type of bladder cancer, and a surgery to resect the bladder tumor had left him “without much of a bladder at all,” Dr. Nassiri said. A normal bladder can hold more than 300 cubic centimeters of fluid; Mr. Larrainzar’s could hold 30.

Now, years of dialysis had begun to fail; fluid was building up inside his body. And with so much scarring in the abdominal region, it would have been difficult to find enough usable length of bowel to pursue another option.

“He showed up serendipitously,” Dr. Nassiri said, “but he was kind of an ideal first candidate for this.”

On a Saturday night earlier this month, Dr. Nassiri received a call about a potential bladder match for Mr. Larrainzar. He and Dr. Gill drove straight to the headquarters of OneLegacy, an organ procurement organization, in Azusa, Calif., and joined a team of seven surgeons working overnight to recover an array of organs from a donor.

The two brought the kidney and bladder to U.C.L.A., then stopped home for a shower, breakfast and a short nap. They completed the eight-hour surgery to give Mr. Larrainzar a new bladder and kidney later that day.

Dr. Nassiri said that kidney transplants can sometimes take up to a week to process urine, but when the kidney and bladder were connected inside Mr. Larrainzar, there was a great connection — “immediate output” — and his creatinine level, which measures kidney function, started to improve immediately. Mr. Larrainzar has already lost 20 pounds of fluid weight since the surgery.

The biggest risks of organ transplantation are the body’s potential rejection of the organ and the side effects caused by the mandatory immune-suppressing drugs given to prevent organ rejection. That is why, for Dr. Rachel Forbes, a transplant surgeon at Vanderbilt University Medical Center who was not involved in the procedure, the excitement is more tempered.

“It’s obviously a technical advance,” she said, but “we already have existing options for people without bladders, and without the downside of requiring immunosuppression.” Unless a patient is — like Mr. Larrainzar — going to be on those medications anyway, “I would be a little bit nervous that you would be exchanging some complications for others,” she said.

A new bladder transplant also does not have nerve connections in the recipient, so while it works well as a storage organ, doctors did not know whether Mr. Larrainzar would ever be able to sense a full bladder, let alone hold and empty it naturally. They spoke about catheters, abdomen maneuvers and eventually developing an on-demand bladder stimulator to help with the release.

But at a follow-up appointment on Thursday morning — just two days after Mr. Larrainzar was discharged from the hospital — Dr. Nassiri removed the catheter and gave him fluids, and Mr. Larrainzar immediately felt that he could urinate.

Dr. Nassiri called it a miracle, then phoned Dr. Gill, who was in a U.S.C. operating room, and exclaimed two words: “He peed!”

“No way! What the hell?” Dr. Gill said. “My jaw is on the floor.”

After finishing the surgery, Dr. Gill drove straight to U.C.L.A. and watched Mr. Larrainzar do it again.

“Of course, this is very, very early. Let’s see how everything goes,” Dr. Gill cautioned. “But it’s the first time he has been able to pee in seven years. For all of us, this is huge.”

Mr. Larrainzar, exhausted, smiled, and Dr. Nassiri brought him a bottle of mineral water to celebrate.

Click to comment

Health

Menopause Weight-Loss Breakthrough: Meet 4 Women Over 50 Who Lost 374 Lbs by Building Muscle

Published

5 hours ago

February 18, 2026

Press Room

Menopause Weight-Loss Breakthrough: Meet 4 Women Over 50 Who Lost 374 Lbs by Building Muscle

Meet 4 Women Who Lost 374 Lbs in Menopause by Building Muscle | Woman’s World

Use left and right arrow keys to navigate between menu items.

Use escape to exit the menu.

Create a free account to access exclusive content, play games, solve puzzles, test your pop-culture knowledge and receive special offers.
Already have an account? Login

Health

Common respiratory bacteria detected in eyes of Alzheimer’s patients

Published

6 hours ago

February 18, 2026

Press Room

Common respiratory bacteria detected in eyes of Alzheimer’s patients

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

A bacterium prevalent in sinus infections and pneumonia may aggravate Alzheimer’s disease, according to a recent study published in Nature Communications.

The bacterium, Chlamydia pneumoniae, was found in the eyes of deceased patients with Alzheimer’s disease, according to researchers from Cedars-Sinai’s Health Sciences University in California.

“The retina is directly connected with the brain. It’s a developmental extension of the brain,” lead researcher Maya Koronyo-Hamaoui, PhD, professor of neurosurgery, neurology and biomedical sciences at Cedars-Sinai Health Sciences University, told Fox News Digital.

COMMON HOUSEHOLD PLANT COULD HOLD KEY TO FIGHTING ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE

Eye-brain link

The study showed that Chlamydia pneumoniae could reach the retinal tissue that lines the back of the eye and linger for several years, creating an inflammatory response potentially linked to the death of nerve cells. This could contribute to cognitive decline and could worsen Alzheimer’s disease symptoms.

A bacterium prevalent in sinus infections and pneumonia may aggravate Alzheimer’s disease, according to a recent study published in Nature Communications. (iStock)

The findings point to potential therapies for Alzheimer’s disease that would target inflammation and provide antibiotic treatment in the early stages of infection, according to Koronyo-Hamaoui.

“One hope of this study is that when people do present with some [symptoms of] pneumonia or atypical pneumonia or some respiratory infection, doctors should consider testing specifically for Chlamydia pneumoniae, and then give them the specific antibiotic,” the researcher said.

BRAIN TRAINING SESSIONS FOUND TO REDUCE DEMENTIA RISK IN DECADES-LONG STUDY

The infection can be identified through laboratory testing, including PCR (polymerase chain reaction), blood tests, or cultures that allow live organisms to grow for analysis.

Inside the study

The researchers examined retinal tissue samples from over 100 deceased individuals who fell into three groups: those who had Alzheimer’s disease, those who had some cognitive deficit or those who did not have the disease.

“The retina is directly connected with the brain. It’s a developmental extension of the brain,” the lead researcher said. (iStock)

They analyzed proteins, conducted genetic testing and used advanced imaging techniques on the samples. Those with Alzheimer’s disease had higher levels of the bacterium in their brains and retinal tissue compared to those who had normal cognition, the release stated.

Genetic risk

Higher levels of chlamydia pneumonia were found in those who carried the gene variant APOE4, which is an associated risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease, Koronyo-Hamaoui added. The bacterium was also associated with more severe cognition decline.

Those with Alzheimer’s disease had higher levels of the bacterium in their brains and retinal tissue compared to those who had normal cognition. (iStock)

The Cedars-Sinai team also looked at human neurons and lab mice with Alzheimer’s disease, finding that Chlamydia pneumoniae was linked to increased inflammation, nerve cell death and cognitive decline, further suggesting that it may play a role in accelerating the disease.

The infection also prompted production of amyloid-beta, which is a protein known to accumulate in the brains of those with Alzheimer’s, Koronyo-Hamaoui said.

While the study points toward using the retina as a way to diagnose and monitor the disease, the researcher acknowledged that more research is needed to confirm these findings.

Experts urge caution

Dr. Aaron Glatt, chief of infectious diseases at Mount Sinai South Nassau on Long Island, New York, was not involved with the study but called the findings “interesting.”

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR HEALTH NEWSLETTER

Glatt, who is also a spokesperson for the Infectious Diseases Society of America, emphasized that the findings only show an association and not causation, and that much more clinical research is needed.

“It does not mean infections cause Alzheimer’s or that people should worry about past respiratory illnesses.”

“Chlamydia pneumoniae is a very common respiratory pathogen that many people are exposed to throughout their lives,” he told Fox News Digital. “While the study identifies a link between this bacterium and neurodegeneration, a standard sinus infection does not mean a patient will develop Alzheimer’s.”

The key takeaway, according to Glatt, is that the study opens new doors for potential diagnostics and treatments, but is “not a reason for immediate alarm regarding common infections.”

TEST YOURSELF WITH OUR LATEST LIFESTYLE QUIZ

Dr. Sharon Fekrat, MD, a clinical spokesperson for the American Academy of Ophthalmology and a retina specialist at the Duke University School of Medicine in North Carolina, agreed that the findings could help researchers better understand how inflammation may drive disease progression and “could lead to new ways to detect or treat Alzheimer’s in the future.”

The infection also prompted production of amyloid-beta, which is a protein known to accumulate in the brains of those with Alzheimer’s. (iStock)

“This is early research suggesting that infection-related inflammation may worsen Alzheimer’s disease in people who are already vulnerable,” Fekrat, who also did not work on the study, told Fox News Digital. “It does not mean infections cause Alzheimer’s or that people should worry about past respiratory illnesses.”

What’s next

While some teams are developing and testing retinal imaging tools in living patients, those methods are not yet part of routine clinical screenings or diagnosis, Fekrat noted.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE HEALTH STORIES

For now, the best proven steps include following brain-healthy habits, such as managing cardiovascular risk factors, staying mentally and socially engaged, and seeking medical care for any cognitive symptoms, the expert added.

Amy McGorry is a contributing health writer for Fox News Digital. Follow her on Twitter @amymcgorry.

Health

Your bedroom temperature could be putting your heart in serious danger, study warns

Published

18 hours ago

February 17, 2026

Press Room

Your bedroom temperature could be putting your heart in serious danger, study warns

Sleep gives you willpower: Biohacker

Biohacker Bryan Johnson, known for pursuing health and longevity, tells ‘My View with Lara Trump’ why sleep is crucial, toxins that contribute to decline and more.

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

The temperature of the bedroom at night could affect heart health — particularly in older adults.

Heat places extra demands on the cardiovascular system, according to lead study author Dr. Fergus O’Connor from Griffith University in Queensland, Australia.

When the human body is exposed to heat, its reaction is to work harder to try and circulate blood to the skin surface for cooling, he noted.

COMMON SLEEP AID COULD BE QUIETLY INTERFERING WITH YOUR REST, STUDY SUGGESTS

“However, when the heart works harder and for longer, it creates stress and limits our capacity to recover from the previous day’s heat exposure,” O’Connor stated in a press release.

Researchers aimed to understand how real-world bedroom temperatures affected older adults.

When the heart works harder and for longer, it creates stress and limits its capacity to recover from the previous day’s heat exposure. (iStock)

The team followed 47 adults living in southeast Queensland averaging 72 years of age.

While many sleep observations are conducted in special clinics, this was a “free-living” study, meaning the participants carried on with their normal activities and sleep schedules.

SIMPLE NIGHTLY HABIT LINKED TO HEALTHIER BLOOD PRESSURE, STUDY SUGGESTS

Scientists monitored the participants throughout an entire Australian summer, from December to March. Each person wore a high-tech fitness tracker to monitor their heart rate from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m., according to the release.

While many sleep observations are conducted in special sleep clinics, this was a “free-living” study, meaning the group carried on with their normal activities and sleep schedules. (iStock)

Sensors were then placed directly in participants’ bedrooms to record the temperatures, monitoring over 14,000 nighttime hours of sleep in total.

SLEEP TIMING COULD DIRECTLY IMPACT CHANCES OF HEART ATTACK OR STROKE, STUDY SUGGESTS

The temperature at which the heart began to show signs of disruption was a little more than 75 degrees Fahrenheit.

Between 75 and 79 degrees Fahrenheit, the odds of a “clinically relevant” drop in heart recovery rose by 40%, the researchers found.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE HEALTH STORIES

Between 79 and 82 degrees Fahrenheit, the odds doubled. Above 82, the risk was nearly triple compared to cooler rooms.

Between 75 and 79 degrees Fahrenheit, the odds of a “clinically relevant” drop in heart recovery rose by 40%. (iStock)

“For individuals aged 65 years and over, maintaining overnight bedroom temperatures at 24 C (75.2 F) reduced the likelihood of experiencing heightened stress responses during sleep,” O’Connor said.

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR HEALTH NEWSLETTER

While the study shows a strong link between heat and heart stress, its observational design means that it doesn’t definitively prove heat is the only cause, the researchers acknowledged.

As the study only focused on older adults in Australia, it may not apply to other populations.

“When the heart works harder and for longer, it creates stress and limits our capacity to recover from the previous day’s heat exposure.”

Also, while the wearable devices are advanced, they are not as precise as the medical-grade ECGs used in clinical settings.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

O’Connor emphasized a gap in temperature guidance — while there are guidelines for maximum daytime indoor temperature, there are no equivalent recommendations for nighttime conditions.

TEST YOURSELF WITH OUR LATEST LIFESTYLE QUIZ

The study was published in the journal BMC Medicine.

Khloe Quill is a lifestyle production assistant with Fox News Digital. She and the lifestyle team cover a range of story topics including food and drink, travel, and health.