Abstract
Purpose
To investigate whether ultrasonographic bladder wall thickness (BWT) correlates with urodynamic parameters in patients with spinal cord injury (SCI).
Methods
Two hundred and seventy-two patients with SCI were enrolled in the study. All of the patients underwent bladder ultrasonography and urodynamic study. The anterior bladder wall was measured and compared to urodynamic data.
Results
The mean age of the patients was 37.4 years. The mean BWT was 3.9 mm. BWT was significantly higher in the patients with neurogenic detrusor overactivity associated with detrusor sphincter dyssynergia (NDO/DSD) compared to those without sphincter dyssynergia (4.2 vs. 3.6 mm, respectively, p < 0.001) and in those with compliance <20 ml/cm H2O. Nevertheless, ROC curve analysis [ROC = 0.624, 95 % CI (0.530, 0.718), p = 0.011] showed that no meaningful BWT measurement cutoff could be made to predict an elevated detrusor pressure in the storage phase.
Conclusions
Increased BWT was present in patients with low bladder compliance and NDO/DSD. No BWT cutoff value to predict an elevated detrusor pressure was found. Therefore, the measurement of BWT has no clinical role in patients with SCI and cannot replace urodynamic evaluation.
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Acknowledgments
We are grateful to the nursing team that supported this work. We are also indebted to the statistician Marcelo Anzanello for his valuable statistical analysis.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Ethical standard
All patients studies have been approved by the appropriate ethics committee and have therefore been performed in accordance with the ethical standards laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments. All persons gave their informed consent prior to their inclusion in the study.
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Silva, J.A.F., Gonsalves, M.C.D., de Melo, R.T. et al. Association between the bladder wall thickness and urodynamic findings in patients with spinal cord injury. World J Urol 33, 131–135 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00345-014-1265-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00345-014-1265-x