1985 Volume 76 Issue 9 Pages 1341-1348
Distributions of urethral compliance, closure pressure and cross sectional area were measured in 12 male patients with lower urinaly tract dysfunction, including 5 individuals without urological disorder, through a new instrument based on a field gradient principle.
The following results were obtained.
1) Normal male; the urethral compliances were 0.071-0.11cm3/mmHg at the proximal segment higher than the other segment, 0.034-0.056cm3/mmHg at the external sphincteric urethra and 0.028-0.036 at the distal segment.
The urethral closure pressure was 40.4-52.7mmHg at the external sphincteric urethra, which was the highest in the urethra. The maximum urethral cross sectional area was 1.2-1.83cm2 at the proximal segment, 1.1-1.6cm2 at the external sphincter and 1.1-1.4cm2 at the distal segment.
2) In patients with benign prostatic hypertrophy, the urethral compliance was almost the same as in normal men, but the maximum urethral cross sectional area was smaller than that of normal individuals.
3) In patients with prostatic cancer, the urethral compliance was significantly low, the cross sectional area was also small and urethral closure pressure was high.
4) The urethral closure presure was 0-25.6mmHg in patients with incontinence, which was lower than other individuals.
