ABSTRACT
From the time of early development of a fetus, the genitourinary system is exposed to a variety of possible injuries. Individuals may suffer from congenital disorders, cancer, trauma, infection, inflammation, iatrogenic injuries, or other conditions that may lead to genitourinary organ damage or loss and require eventual reconstruction. Whenever there is a lack of native urologic tissue, reconstruction may be performed with native non-urologic tissues (skin, gastrointestinal segments, or mucosa from multiple body sites), homologous tissues (cadaver fascia, cadaver, or donor kidney), heterologous tissues (bovine collagen), or artificial materials (silicone, polyurethane, Teflon2 (DuPont, Johnston, IA)). The tissues used for reconstruction may lead to complications because of their inherently different functional parameters. In most cases, the replacement of lost or deficient tissues with functionally equivalent tissues would improve the outcome for these patients. This goal may be attainable with the use of tissue-engineering techniques.
