The use of 3D ultrasound in comparing surgical techniques for posterior wall prolapse repair: a pilot randomised controlled trial.

The most appropriate method for repairing posterior vaginal wall prolapse is still debatable. Women with symptomatic prolapse scheduled to undergo surgical repair in the posterior compartment were randomised to standard posterior colporrhaphy (SPC) or fascial and vaginal epithelial plication (FEP). Participants were assessed with the Prolapse Quality of Life (P-QOL) questionnaire, pelvic organ prolapse quantification (POP-Q) examination and three-dimensional ultrasound (3D US) prior to surgery and 6 months postoperatively.

Reliability and validity of urinary nerve growth factor measurement in women with lower urinary tract symptoms.

Introduction And Hypothesis: The validity and reliability of measurement of urinary NGF as a diagnostic biomarker in women with lower urinary tract dysfunction (LUTD) is uncertain. We aimed to evaluate both the diagnostic and discriminant validity, and the test-retest reliability of urinary NGF measurement in women with LUTD.

Methods: Urinary NGF was measured in women with LUTD (n = 205) and asymptomatic subjects (n = 31).

Are the measurements of water-filled and air-charged catheters the same in urodynamics?

Introduction And Hypothesis: The aim of our study was to compare air-charged and water-filled catheters simultaneously in the measurement of the intravesical, abdominal and detrusor pressure during urodynamic investigations.

Methods: Consecutive women with lower urinary tract symptoms, referred for urodynamics were prospectively studied. Readings of intravesical pressure (p(ves)), abdominal pressure (p(abd)) and detrusor pressure (p(det)), recorded by both the air-charged and water-filled catheters, were displayed simultaneously and compared at the end of filling, on standing, on sitting prior to voiding and at the maximum involuntary detrusor contraction.

Prevalence of pubovisceral muscle avulsion in a general gynecology cohort: a computed tomography (CT) study.

Aims: To calculate the prevalence of pubovisceral muscle (PM) avulsion in a cohort of women presenting at a university hospital for non-urogynecological conditions.

Methods: Women with or without symptoms of PFD were studied in a tertiary referral urogynecology center between February and October 2010. Women were recruited from the Department of Radiology, where they were referred for a CT pelvis scan due to various pathologies.

Real-time in vivo assessment of levator ani muscle deformation in women.

Objective: To study the deformation of the levator ani muscle in vivo with the use of real-time ultrasound imaging of the pelvic floor.

Study Design: Thirty-two women with symptoms of pelvic floor dysfunction underwent real-time in vivo assessment of the strain of the pelvic floor during Valsalva effort. All participants underwent clinical examination, urodynamics and 3D/4D translabial ultrasound scan of the pelvic floor.

Changes in detrusor muscle oxygenation during detrusor overactivity contractions.

Objective: To investigate changes in the oxygenated and deoxygenated haemoglobin (Hb) of the bladder wall during voluntary and involuntary detrusor contractions.

Study Design: Women with lower urinary tract symptoms were recruited from a urodynamics clinic. Near infra-red spectroscopy, a non-invasive optical technique which monitors changes in tissue oxygenation, was used to measure oxygenated and deoxygenated haemoglobin simultaneously while the women underwent urodynamics.

Racial differences in female urethral morphology and levator hiatal dimensions: an ultrasound study.

Aim: To compare the urethral sphincter morphology and levator hiatal dimensions between white and black premenopausal nulliparous asymptomatic women using 3D/4D translabial ultrasonography.

Methods: Nulliparous black and white women were recruited in a tertiary gynecological center. All women were completely asymptomatic for pelvic floor dysfunction.

Antimuscarinic effects on current perception threshold: a prospective placebo control study.

Aims: To evaluate the effect of Tolterodine on urethral and bladder afferent nerves in women with detrusor overactivity (DO) in comparison to placebo, by studying the changes in the current perception threshold (CPT).

Methods: Women with overactive bladder symptoms and idiopathic DO were recruited and randomized in a double-blind manner between placebo and tolterodine extended release. All women underwent CPT testing of the bladder and urethra using a Neurometer constant current stimulator.

Novel biomarkers for overactive bladder.

Biomarkers constitute any objectively measurable indicator of a biological process. The classic biomarker used in the diagnosis of overactive bladder (OAB) has been detrusor overactivity, which is assessed urodynamically. In the search for a reliable, noninvasive alternative to urodynamics, interest has focused on genetic, imaging, and urinary factors.