To prevent problematic outcomes of bowel-based bladder reconstructive surgery, such as prosthetic tumors and systemic metabolic complications, research works, to either regenerate and strengthen failing organ or build organ replacement biosubstitute, have been turned, from 90s of the last century, to both regenerative medicine and tissue engineering.Various types of acellular matrices, naturally-derived materials, synthetic polymers have been used for either “unseeded” (cell free) or autologous “cell seeded” tissue engineering scaffolds. Different categories of cell sources – from autologous differentiated urothelial and smooth muscle cells to natural or laboratory procedure-derived stem cells – have been taken into consideration to reach the construction of suitable “cell seeded” templates. Current clinically validated bladder tissue engineering approaches essentially consist of augmentation cystoplasty in patients suffering from poorly compliant neuropathic bladder. No clinical applications of wholly tissue engineered neobladder have been carried out to radical-reconstructive surgical treatment of bladder malignancies or chronic inflammation-due vesical coarctation.
Reliable reasons why bladder tissue engineering clinical applications so far remain unusual, particularly imply the risk of graft ischemia, hence its both fibrous contraction and even worse perforation.
Therefore, the achievement of graft vascular network (vasculogenesis) could allow, together with the promotion of host surrounding vessel sprouting (angiogenesis), an effective graft blood supply, so avoiding the ischemia-related serious complications.
