Dr. Isali on the development of a co-electrocompacted bladder patch for vesicovaginal fistula

In this video, Ilaha Isali, MD, highlights her work, “Development of a co-electrocompacted bladder patch composed of chorion and collagen for the treatment of vesicovaginal fistula,” which was presented at the Society of Urodynamics, Female Pelvic Medicine & Urogenital Reconstruction (SUFU) meeting in Nashville, Tennessee. Isali is a research associate at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.

Video Transcript:

We know that more than 3.5 million women live with devastating birth injury called an obstetric fistula. It's common in Sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia, and some parts of the Middle East. Current treatment requires an experienced surgeon to use autologous tissues. Unfortunately, the recurrence rate is high, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa and in Southeast Asia. They don't have access to good quality medical care, and the baby’s getting stuck in the birth canal. This has devastating social impact on the quality of life of women. In the United States, we do see challenging cases not because of the birth injury, but mainly because of radiation therapy. For those patients, we thought having an off-the-shelf patch could be a potential replacement for the treatment of vesicovaginal fistula, also called an obstetric fistula.

In this study, we were able to make a hybrid patch, which has 2 parts composed of type 1 bovine collagen, and decellularized chorion, which we harvested from placental tissue. We made a hybrid patch. This patch is highly robust. Its mechanical properties are similar to native pig bladder tissue, and it functions as a native bladder tissue. We have done a lot of mechanical testing in terms of elasticity. They were similar to a pig's bladder. We are currently in the process of doing large animal studies to validate the changes of histology, looking at the tissue integration, and also mechanical properties over time. We are optimistic about this study, because it has the potential not just only for vesicovaginal fistula treatment, but it can be also used in the treatment of burns for other fistula types, and also in the treatment of urethral stricture, it can be a potential novel off-the-shelf product for surgeons.

This transcription has been edited for clarity.