VESICAL REGENERATION IN THE HUMAN AFTER TOTAL CYSTECTOMY AND IMPLANTATION OF A PLASTIC MOULD

Abstract

SUMMARY: 1. Regeneration of the bladder after extensive partial cystectomy or accidental necrosis has been reported in the medical literature of our time.2. We report a case of total cystectomy with implantation of a plastic mould in the place previously occupied by the bladder.3. When the plastic mould was removed twelve weeks later, we found that the cavity was similar to a normal bladder, with transitional epithelium of vesical type.4. This cavity was larger than the plastic mould.5. A descending pyelogram made after the mould was removed showed that kidney function was normal; that the ureters drained normally to the newly formed cavity; and that the mild hydronephrosis produced during the time the mould had remained in place had practically disappeared.6. Histological study of biopsies taken in different areas of the newly formed cavity showed that it was lined by a transitional epithelium of vesical type over a membrane formed of connective tissue infiltrated with round cells. We did not find plain muscular fibres isolated or grouped in bundles.7. We are not aware of this operation having been performed previously in human beings.