Does vascular endothelial growth factor mediate hypoxic stimulated embryonic bladder growth in organ culture?
In vivo embryonic bladders are hypoxic and express vascular endothelial growth factor-A. In vitro, when oxygen tensions are manipulated, vascular endothelial growth factor-A protein positively correlates with the growth of whole explants as well as endothelium. Normal embryonic bladder development may be driven at least in part by hypoxic up-regulation of vascular endothelial growth factor-A.
The results demonstrate that, although the majority of patients operated upon abroad got comparable functional results to patients operated locally, they often felt dissatisfied with the overall experience of travelling for their operation. Furthermore, the issues of 'patient ownership' and long-term follow-up need to be fully addressed in order to safeguard the high standard of care we should offer our patients.