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Address reprint requests to P. Abrarns, Southmead Hospital, Westbury-on-Tryrn, Bristol BSlO 5NB, England.0 1988 Alan R. Liss, Inc. 404Abramsetal.

To ascertain the relationship between voiding dysfunction associated with diabetes and bladder and sphincter behavior, the video urodynamic studies of 182 patients were retrospectively analyzed. Patients were classified based on urodynamic diagnosis and the presence or absence of signs of sacral cord involvement. Urodynamic findings were classified as either detrusor hyperreflexia, impaired detrusor contractility, detrusor areflexia, indeterminate and normal. The results indicate that mean bladder capacity was 485 +/- 89.3 ml. with a mean first sensation of filling of 298 +/- 67.4 ml. Of the 182 patients 100 (55%) had detrusor hyperreflexia, 42 (23%) had impaired detrusor contractility, 20 (11%) had indeterminate findings, 19 (10%) had detrusor areflexia and 1 (1%) was normal. Bladder outlet obstruction occurred in 66 patients (36%), all men (57%). The diagnosis was isolated in 24 patients (36%) or in combination with another diagnosis in 42 (74%). However, if one considers the presence of sacral cord signs (42 patients), the most common urodynamic diagnoses were either impaired detrusor contractility in 21 (50%) or detrusor areflexia in 10 (24%). These data suggest that classical diabetic cystopathy is not the most common urodynamic findings in patients with diabetes mellitus and voiding dysfunction, and in fact these patients present with variable pathophysiological findings. These findings demonstrate the importance of urodynamic studies in diagnosing voiding dysfunction in diabetics before initiation of therapy.

The prevalence of bladder outlet obstruction in women is unknown and most probably has been underestimated. Moreover, there are no standard definitions for the diagnosis of bladder outlet obstruction in women. Our study was conducted to define as well as to examine the clinical and urodynamic characteristics of bladder outlet obstruction among women referred for evaluation of voiding symptoms. Bladder outlet obstruction was defined as a persistent, low, maximum "free" flow rate of <12 mL/s in repeated non-invasive uroflow studies, combined with high detrusor pressure at a maximum flow (p det.Qmax >20 cm H 2 O) during detrusor pressure-uroflow studies. A urodynamic database of 587 consecutive women identified 38 (6.5%) women with bladder outlet obstruction. The mean age of the patients was 63.9 ± 17.5 years. The mean maximum "free" flow, voided volume, and residual urinary volume were 9.4 ±3.9 mL/s, 144.9 ± 72.7 mL, and 86.1 ± 98.8 mL, respectively. The mean p det.Qmax was 37.2 ± 19.2 cm H 2 O. Previous anti-incontinence surgery and severe genital prolapse were the most common etiologies, accounting for half of the cases. Other, less common, etiologies included urethral stricture (13%), primary bladder neck obstruction (8%), learned voiding dysfunction (5%), and detrusor external sphincter dyssynergia (5%). Symptomatology was defined as mixed obstructive and irritative in 63% of the patients, isolated irritative in 29%, and isolated obstructive in other 8%. In conclusion, bladder outlet obstruction in women appears to be more common than was previously recognized, occurring in 6.5% of our patients. Micturition symptoms relevant to bladder outlet obstruction are non-specific, and a full urodynamic evaluation is essential in making the correct diagnosis and formulating a treatment plan.