Ultrasound-Estimated Bladder Weight Correlates With Videourodynamic Studies in Neurogenic Bladder Dysfunction

This retrospective study was designed to evaluate which lower urinary tract ultrasound parameter(s) could predict the results of invasive urodynamic testing which are the current reference standard in the evaluation of bladder dysfunction in children with spina bifida.

Fifty eight children with spina bifida undergoing video urodynamic evaluation and a renal bladder ultrasound as their standard of care were evaluated. Quantitative and qualitative ultrasound parameters were then correlated with the videourodynamic study results which served as the reference standard.

For bladders with ending storage pressures above 15 cm H₂ O, there were increases in these ultrasound measured parameters: 1) bladder mass (P = .00019), 2) bladder/body mass ratio (P = .0059), and 3) wall thickness (P = .01). We defined the storage cost as the final storage pressure divided by the percentage of expected bladder capacity attained. These data were analyzed to compute receiver operating curves with assuming end storage pressures cutoff points of 15, 20, 30, and 40 cm H₂ O. The optimal area under the curve was found for a bladder weight of 65 g and a pressure cutoff of 30 cm H₂ O with a sensitivity of 75% with a specificity of 84%.

Bladder weight is independent of luminal volume, can be normalized to body weight, and may serve as a clinically valuable tool for noninvasive screening to define a subset of patients with neurogenic bladder with a higher likelihood of having abnormal videourodynamic results.