Why is it impossible to transplant a bladder? It seems strange to me that a heart can be transplanted and a bladder can’t.
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The bladder itself is rather straight forward, the problem is where it is
The pelvis has a lot of blood vessels and it’s a pretty tight space to work in. So a bladder transplant hasn’t even been attempted.
So in summary, in principle it’s possible but the process is too difficult
A bladder certainly could be transplanted, but a neobladder (made out of a patient’s own intestine) has the same end result without the concern of rejection.
Mostly they don’t transplant things unless you die today without it, rejection drugs are still nasty enough they find any other solution before that. There is more ways to live without a badder than lungs so they don’t do them yet, in a future if rejection drugs get solved there will be all sorts of organ transplants that weren’t “worth it” before
Interestingly urologists in Los Angeles at USC did the first bladder transplant in April.
https://news.keckmedicine.org/urologists-to-perform-worlds-first-bladder-transplant/
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