Urogenital Repair

Congenital abnormalities, trauma, infection, and cancer can all necessitate reconstructive surgery in the genitourinary tract. Currently, such surgeries may be performed with native non-urologic tissues, homologous tissues from a donor, heterologous tissues or substances, or artificial materials. However, these materials often lead to complications after reconstruction, including rejection of the implanted tissue. The field of tissue engineering may soon allow replacement of lost or deficient urologic tissues with anatomically and functionally equivalent ones that are derived from a small sample of the patient's own tissue. This would improve the outcome of reconstructive surgery in the genitourinary system and lead to new methods of treating these disorders.